Days in Konoha
by FMPtrumpets
Summary: Life in Konoha is always crazy and unpredictable, life around a certain blonde Uzumaki even more so. A series of one-shots, mostly featuring our favorite blonde ninja, but sometimes branching off to focus on others as I think of things to write.
1. A Shinobi

He saw what nobody else seemed to.

When Kakashi-sensei stepped through that door and the eraser fell on his head, he found it hilarious and he couldn't believe that this guy was a Jonin. They were the best, after all. And yet he couldn't spot a simple trap like that?

But... then he had a chance to study his new sensei while they were on the roof.

The way he held himself, ready for anything and everything to happen in the next instant, and ready to react to it.

The way he _looked. _His clothes were clean, sure. He obviously hadn't had a mission in a while, or he recently did laundry. But, he could see the small tears and patch jobs that littered his uniform. A small stain, here and there. They _looked_ brown, but he wasn't _that _naive about the ways of the shinobi. Small burns here and there on his flak-vest, a rip near his shoulder that he clearly felt didn't in any way compromise the vest itself or he would've replaced it once he noticed the damage. He knew Iruka-sensei had needed a new vest after everything with Mizuki.

His headband, though... if he thought Iruka's headband was old and worn, that was nothing on this guys headband. The ends were frayed and there were burnt spots on the edges of the fabric, and more brown spots. The metal plate had recently been polished, but there were dents and small scratches all over it, though none covered up the Konoha symbol in the middle. There was one spot on it, where it looked like the plate itself had been twisted and bent out of shape, and then bent back into shape.

The way he smelled. Like earlier stated, he was clean. But the old smell of blood still clung to him and to his clothes. Underneath the scent of old blood was the smell of lightning and electricity, and fire. Clearly he used a lot of lightning jutsu.

He knew now.

This wasn't a mistake. This guy didn't miss that trap. He let the eraser fall on him. He wanted them to underestimate him.

There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that this wasn't just a Jonin in front of them.

This was a Shinobi.


	2. The True Elite

Iruka sighed in annoyance as an invading Sound-nin mocked him. He only raised an eyebrow in amusement.

Konoha was the only Village who's Academy instructors were Chunin. The others all had Jonin assigned to teach the Academy students in shifts, while here, the Academy Chunin were more or less there to stay once assigned there. Sure, they still took the occasional B-rank, and they still trained to keep up their skills, but they didn't really leave the village a whole lot anymore.

What none of the other villages seemed to realize (in their mocking and scorn) was that the Academy was one of the most vital and important parts of the villages structure. It was where future shinobi were trained. It housed the future of their Village. If something were to happen to the Academy students, the Village would be left crippled for years as they scrambled to find enough new recruits to fit even one Academy class, shove them through the years of training in as little time possible while still making sure they had the necessary skill to at least survive as long as possible while taking as many of the enemy with them, and take some of the strain off the already established shinobi of the Village.

The new Genin, and even the students themselves sometimes, were relied on to run the 'errand-missions', the D-rank and the low C-rank that, while not really being shinobi work, still brought money into the Village and helped provide a bit of field training.

If something happened to the Academy students, the Shinobi force of the Village would get older and more worn out by the lifestyle without any fresh blood to replace them when they should retire. The Academy students were the Village's future, their safety ensured the continued existence of the Village.

So, why, then, would Konoha put Chunin in charge of the most important and should-be protected parts of the Village?

To put it simply, they didn't.

On paper, yeah, sure. They were all Chunin, they got paid Chunin salaries, they had Chunin levels of skill, and they clearly couldn't hack it out in the world. Why else would they spend their lives teaching a bunch of brats instead of taking missions and earning money?

In real life, however... there wasn't a single shinobi in the Village who didn't cower or jump at the Academy Chunin's command.

Before being accepted as teachers at the Academy, they were put through extensive training with the Jonin, ANBU Hunter-nin, trap masters, and the Nara clan. That was on top of a few classes taught by a few of the Civilian teachers about teaching in general.

They were taught how to recognize threats before the threat even knew they were a threat yet. They were taught every major Taijutsu style out there and ways to counter it. How to recognize and set traps behind them while guarding (re:herding) children (scared and panicking) where they needed to go to reach safety. They were taught how to rely on all of their senses and track somebody who may have taken one of their students. They were taught extensive tactics and strategy.

By the time they were accepted as Academy Chunin, they were fully capable of going S-rank missions solo.

They didn't, though.

They stayed at the Academy. Their skills were tested and honed every day by the students they taught. Spotting and disabling prank traps, hunting down and dragging students back to class when they run out or skip school that day, unexpected and surprising Taijutsu moves during sparring practice that should not have happened or worked, but they did. They knew when a student was planning a prank (or worse) as soon as the student started planning it.

All those skills they were taught in order to defend and protect their students? Paled in comparison to their biggest defense.

Enemy villages didn't expect a lowly Chunin, who couldn't cut it in the field, to be able to out-fight, out-smart, and best any Elite Jonin as if it were a walk in the park.

They didn't expect the Academy Chunin to be the true Elites of the Village.

"You shouldn't underestimate an Academy Instructor." Iruka merely informed his opponent before putting a Kunai in his heart and taking off to follow his students towards the evacuation point, setting traps behind him as he went.

And they never would.


	3. Troublesome

"Why didn't you just shop using a Henge?" Shikamaru suddenly asked. Naruto glanced at him in question. "You just said that everyone always overcharged you when you were younger. And that you could never afford anything good. Why not shop under a Henge so nobody knew it was you?" He clarified.

Naruto stared blankly at him for a second before his eyes widened and his jaw dropped in shocked surprise. He shot to his feet, startling Shikamaru and Choji. "Why didn't I think of that?!" He yelled at nothing.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome." Choji said nothing, and merely held out his chip bag while Naruto paced, muttering angrily to himself.


	4. Masks

Kakashi smirked as he lifted his mask to cover his face again, sighing in relief at the familiar feel of the fabric against his skin, and the dulling of his sense of smell. As he lifted it, he also released the genjutsu he used to make it appear like he had a second mask on underneath it.

His smirk deepened as he thought of all the attempts over the years to see him without his mask. It was quite comical, actually, and he'd thought his genin would have tried far sooner than this. What had been even better, was that it was the most teamwork he'd seen out of them, yet! Well, there were times during missions or training exercises against him, but those were fairly few and far between.

Walking behind his Genin, his smirk widened when he caught what they were saying.

Did they really think that his mask hid a bulbous nose or buck teeth? Honestly, could they not see the outline of his face? Although, their theories were certainly more entertaining than what he'd heard in the past.

He reached up and touched his mask, shaking his head and resolving to watch for their future attempts.

It should be entertaining, that was for sure.


	5. A New Naruto pt 1

This one is AU, and doesn't really follow any particular plot or story line, just started writing and this is what came out. Naruto is smart, but also somewhat naive. This will be a multi-parter, probably be its own story, but I think I will keep it in 'Days in Konoha' for now.

Naruto is not OP, he is still Genin level although he will jump to mid-high Chunin in some skill sets, although I think it is safe to say that his stealth abilities will be Jonin-ANBU levels. He just has ridiculously high stamina naturally. Given some proper training, that high stamina would naturally be higher

* * *

Most thought he was stupid. Well, part of that might be his own fault, with the way he acted and all. But at the same time, that wasn't his fault. He was always being punished by adults whenever he showed that he was actually quite intelligent. Not Nara levels of intelligent, of course, but if his Academy teachers weren't sabotaging his education he could have graduated years ago.

He'd known exactly what the problem was... he had way too much Chakra for the Clone jutsu to work, no matter how small of an amount he used, he just couldn't use a small enough amount. But nobody would let him explain that, and the Chakra control exercises taught in the Academy weren't enough to correct the problem, and he wasn't allowed in the library to find another solution.

Of course, when he finally had enough and went to Gramps with his problem, the old man was not happy, but he managed to convince him not to do anything drastic. After all, it was only him being sabotaged, right? He was the container for the Nine-Tailed Fox, he knew they were just angry still.

_His Gramps looked at him, wide-eyed with shock. "How-"_

_Naruto grinned sheepishly, "Remember I have really good hearing?" The Third nodded dumbly. Of course he remembered, he was the one who called in a favor with Tsume last year and got an Inuzuka to teach Naruto how to effectively use his enhanced senses, in fact, his Inuzuka sensei had been so impressed that Naruto had been promised a Ninken companion from the next litter they had. Until then, Naruto was being taught how to work with a Ninken partner by pairing with Tsume's old wolf hound to train. "I overheard some shinobi talking about it, years ago, and figured it out. Also..." Naruto gestured towards the picture of the Fourth Hokage on the wall. "It's not hard to guess that, either. And I managed to get some books on my clan..." Now if only he could find information about Chakra control exercises in the same way._

_Hiruzen sighed and slumped down in his chair. "I had hoped that you wouldn't put those pieces together." He muttered, knowing the boy was smart, but hoping anyway. "If you've known this whole time, why didn't you say anything?" He asked._

_Naruto bit his lip. Anybody else would take it for a nervous gesture, but Hiruzen knew it was a sign that Naruto was thinking about how he wanted to word his answer. "You had your reasons for not saying anything, right? And from what I heard, my dad had a lot of enemies, didn't he? I mean, Iwa doesn't seem to like him much at all, and I deal with enough assassination attempts from the villagers without dealing with them." Naruto frowned and looked down, not noticing the Hokage or the ANBU in the room tensing in shocked horror._

_Hiruzen sighed and blinked before moving around his desk and pulling Naruto into a hug. After a few moments, he decided to let it go for now, and turned his attention back to the Chakra and Clone problem, resolving to find the boys inheritance later, once he pulled it out of where he hid it in the Villages emergency weapons cache._

_"Well, I suppose that..." He froze suddenly as he remembered a conversation he once had with Mito Uzumaki, a long time ago. It was right after his sensei invented the Shadow Clone jutsu. Basically, it was invented _because _the Uzumaki had too much Chakra to successfully perform E-ranked jutsu, which is what the Clone jutsu was. The only exceptions to the rule were the Henge and Kawarmi, because they didn't require control or precision. _

_In fact, they put so much Chakra into the Henge that they ended up turning into an _actual _transformation, not just an illusion. Which brought up another fact, that Genjutsu and Uzumaki didn't really mix, either. Oh, they could detect and dispel them easily enough, especially since most Uzumaki ended up being natural sensors, but casting them? No, not happening. Same with Medical jutsu, there was a reason why the Uzumaki and Senju had such a close relationship, and it wasn't just because they were cousin clans. All the medics and hospital staff of Uzushio tended to be Senju that either married into the Uzumaki, or just lived there because they could._

_...He was going off on a mental tangent._

_From what she said, trying to teach an Uzumaki the Clone jutsu, or any E-ranked jutsu really, was an exercise in futility. It couldn't be done. It was even worse for an Uzumaki who also happened to be a Jinchuuriki._

_He sighed again. "Inu, go out and get me these books and supplies." He said, quickly jotting down a list of books on Chakra control and some beginner Fuinjutsu guides, along with Chakra ink, brushes, regular ink and quality paper. Along with a decent calligraphy set. Then, "Naruto, I'm going to teach you a different Clone jutsu, the Shadow Clone. It was made specially for the Uzumaki clan, because of the large Chakra reserves they were known for." He paused._

_"In fact, I must apologize, Mito Uzumaki told me about the problems that an Uzumaki would have with E-ranked jutsu like the regular Clone jutsu, but I had completely forgotten about it until now." He said, sheepish. Naruto merely looked at him, blinking. He could feel the rest of his ANBU watching him incredulously as well, and he coughed before handing Naruto the instructions he'd written out while he talked. _

_"That is for you to reference if you need to, put it somewhere safe. Now. The Shadow Clone jutsu is a S-rank Kinjutsu, partially for the immense Chakra requirements. Because of this, only an Uzumaki or a high level Jonin can really use it safely. However, the jutsu also has something of a memory transfer. Whatever the clone experiences, the original will remember, so it is a highly useful jutsu for scouting, or research. However, the memory transfer does not include muscle memory. So, if you do use them for training purposes at all, anything physical will have to be done by you. _

_Chakra control exercises done with them will transfer, to a point. I expect you will be able to use many more than most will expect because of your heritage, but because of the memory transfer, I am going to have to limit you to no more than five for training purposes for now. We will see what your limits are over time." He looked at the boy warningly when he said this. Naruto pouted for a minute before he nodded his agreement. After studying him for a moment, Hiruzen started going over the hand signs and how to mould the Chakra for the Shadow Clones._

_Right about when he finished, Inu came back with the requested materials, although it seemed he'd even taken the initiative and brought along the personnel files of the Academy teachers. _

_"Hey, Gramps, you don't mind if I put off graduating until my class does? I mean, people don't really like it when I show any kind of skill..." Naruto looked down briefly. He tried, but there was only so much he could do when he had nobody there to tell him what he was doing wrong, especially with his Taijutsu or weapons throwing. _

_Hiruzen suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to kill a few people. He wanted to tell Naruto to forget about everybody else, but at the same time, he didn't know what they would do when Naruto started showing what he could really do. Until Naruto graduated from the Academy, he was more or less at the mercy of the Civilian Council, although technically all decisions about him had to go through the Hokage since he was also the villages Jinchuuriki. They could still make life exceedingly difficult for the boy._

_Besides, shinobi these days were too flashy and prone to showing off anyway. What good was being good and showing off your best moves, if the enemy then came to know about it? Honestly. All the best shinobi (with exceptions) made an effort at being unmemorable, or at the very least, making people underestimate them somehow._

_Feeling a growing headache he sent the boy off with his new jutsu and books and sat back to review the files. Naruto asked him not to do anything or make a big deal about it, but that was under the assumption that Naruto was the only one being sabotaged. Based on this, he felt that a sweep through those tasked with teaching their future shinobi was needed._

_A few minutes later, Inoichi came in, apparently Inu also felt that he may be needed. _

Shortly after that, the Hokage assigned Kakashi Hatake to teach him what the Academy Instructor's were failing to. Naruto was very happy about it, because now he had somebody to show him where he was going wrong with his technique or training. (He also had somebody to check over his work when he worked on his Fuinjutsu. He didn't want to blow himself up, thank you very much!) He only had another year in the Academy, but he caught on quick, especially with a good teacher that actually paid him attention.

(Naruto pretended not to notice when two Academy instructors went missing not long after his visit for a solution to his Clone problem. Or how the ANBU guard around the school building increased from two, to ten. Or how six of them now patrolled inside the school and made random, and discrete, stops inside the classrooms to observe. Or how two seemed to be assigned to watching the Academy training fields. Those that asked about the two teachers were told they were needed for a mission and simply didn't make it back.)

His training with his new Ninken partner was going even better, although she was still too young to really fight with... she would be old enough for Ninja duties in a few months, until then he was doing basic household and ninja training while simply bonding with her. He would be allowed to take her home after graduation, since she was now old enough to leave her mother and litter. Tsume had told him that it was very impressive, considering the Inuzuka start training with their Ninken partners, or at least in preparation for their Ninken, almost from the time they could walk, whether they went on to be shinobi for the Village or not.

He was still the dead-last of his year, though. But now it was on purpose. Team 7 was usually the one given the Rookie of the Year, Kuniochi of the Year, and the Dead-last, with a previous member of Team 7 as their Jonin sensei. Of those previous still alive (and still active shinobi), one was the current Hokage, one was a traitor and all around monster, one was a drunk gambling addict roaming Hi no Kuni, one was the villages Spymaster and his deadbeat godfather, and the last one was Kakashi-nii. An A-bordering-S rank member of ANBU who until recently spent all his time (when not doing missions or training) wasting away in front of a Memorial Stone, and porn-addict (the jury was actually still out on that one, Naruto had seen the pages of one of his books once, it was a Bingo Book with the cover switched out to look like a porn book). Who had told him that he was being forced to take a team again this year, and the Civilian Council had all but ordered him to take on their precious Uchiha, whether the boy actually passed his test or not.

(They had zero authority over him (both as a Shinobi and an ANBU, since they were only civilians), but he went along with it unless the Hokage said differently in an effort to keep the peace. They could stir up all manner of unrest if they felt vindicated enough, but he knew the Hokage was planning something to put them back in their places, because they seemed to have forgotten they were civilians in a _shinobi _village. And that this village was a military dictatorship. At the end of the day, they could rile the civilians all they wanted, they would just arrest anyone and everyone causing problems. However, that would cause problems in and of itself, if all the civilians who provided basic services (some restaurants and stores, foreign trade, etc.) to the shinobi were arrested.)

Since Sasuke was the current Rookie of the Year and that was unlikely to change, that meant Kakashi would also get the dead-last, and Naruto wanted to stay with his teacher. (Besides, the Uchiha would probably drive him to wasting away at the Memorial Stone again just to get away from him, and it took Naruto months to get him to stop that! It wasn't healthy, all the psychology books he read said so.) Also, being on Kakashi's team was the only way Naruto could be sure the Jonin-sensei would actually pass him and not fail him out of spite. Or, failing that, just ignore him while training the rest of the team.

So, his team would be made up of himself, Sasuke, either Sakura or Hinata, and Kakashi-nii. He hoped they got Hinata instead of Sakura, her voice was killer on his ears, and he knew Kakashi-nii wouldn't appreciate it anymore than he did. Although, it would be nice to drop the 'I-have-the-biggest-crush-on-Sakura' act. Honestly, only an idiot would actually like somebody that did nothing but yell and hit him all the time. (In another universe, Naruto sneezed and went back to asking Sakura-chan for a date... again.)

During the exams, he detected the Genjutsu on his test paper, but decided it played into being the dead-last, so just went along with it. As long as he still did good enough on the practical portions, he should be alright. Of course, this also meant hoping and praying that they didn't decide on the Clone jutsu for the Ninjutsu portion. He knew that how he did on the rest of the test would not matter if he failed that portion, depending on who was in the room proctoring it. If it was Iruka-sensei, he should be fine, but anybody else would fail him out of spite, especially since he wouldn't be using the regular Clone jutsu. And he knew that his grandpa had mentioned the problem to his instructor already, and Iruka had apologized for not realizing the problem sooner.

His weapon skills portion of the test went alright, he used his old weapons, not the nice balanced ones Kakashi-nii got for him, to purposely throw his aim off just enough. Kakashi-nii had made sure his aim was perfect, enough to rival Tenten's, the weapons mistress on Gai-sensei's team. He knew from experimenting that it was harder to miss on purpose, especially once he got so good at hitting his target. So, he got his old, useless weapons that made Kakashi-nii release a lot of killing intent once he saw them. (He had no idea what happened to the owner of the ninja supply store he used to go to, and he honestly didn't want to know.)

His Taijutsu went as well as he expected, Mizuki was their opponent while Iruka-sensei proctored, so he knew the biased Chunin went harder on him than anyone else, which made it difficult to hold back. He didn't know why, but whenever he saw Mizuki, his instincts screamed at him to get away. He knew that Mizuki thought he _was _the Fox, and not just the container, and he knew that Mizuki feared and hated him, but he didn't know why his instincts would scream at him like that. Yeah, Mizuki hated him with a passion, but it wasn't like he was the only one in this Village, but they all held enough respect and fear for both his grandpa and Kakashi-nii not to try anything stupid. Especially in the last year or so.

The Genjutsu portion, well... he escaped the Genjutsu they were supposed to dispel. Enough said.

The Ninjutsu part was actually worse then expected. Iruka wasn't in the room, he was called away at the last minute by another Chunin who needed him to watch their class while he took two other students to the Hospital after a spar gone way, way wrong. So, it was just Mizuki.

"Alright, Naruto. Perform the Henge for me. The normal Henge, not your version of it." He warned, barely concealing his hatred. Naruto almost did the Sexy-jutsu out of spite, but decided to behave today, he wanted to do good enough to graduate the right way, although he knew that his grandpa was planning on giving him a field evaluation if the Academy instructors failed him this time around. He knew Naruto was more than skilled enough to graduate. (Kakashi might also kill the old man if he didn't have Naruto on his team.) Mizuki scowled while he thought Naruto wasn't looking after Naruto performed a perfect Henge. He knew that Iruka was going to check over all the scores once he got back, and Iruka was well aware that Naruto could perform the Henge perfectly, everybody knew that the only jutsu he had problems with the Clone.

Too bad the two jutsu being tested on were determined beforehand, that way the proctors couldn't just pick whichever ones they wanted based on which student was being tested. This way, if it was a student the instructor didn't like, they couldn't choose the jutsu(s) that student struggled with, while giving a favored student the two jutsu they did the best in. Of course, it could still happen that the jutsu chosen ahead of time happened to be two that the student struggled in, but that was the students problem at this point if they struggled that much with two of the required jutsu.

They had to successfully perform both jutsu in order to pass this section. And failing any one section of the exam meant an instant fail on the whole thing and no graduation. (Unless you were Rock Lee and had special circumstances and medical reasons.)

It was just Naruto's bad luck that the Clone jutsu had been chosen this year, and not the Kawarmi. Of course, the Clone jutsu had been chosen for all of his attempts at graduating... No coincidence or anything though, none at all...

"Alright, Naruto, good job." The words were (subtly) gritted out. "Now, the Clone jutsu." Mizuki requested, already marking it as a fail.

"Can it be any type of clone?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer, but also knowing it was best to ask and get clarification.

Mizuki almost answered 'yes', before he caught himself. Why was the Demon asking that? The only reason It would be asking that was if... It knew another type of Clone jutsu. Well, of course It knew another Clone jutsu, It was the Demon, who knew what It knew. This could be his proof that the Demon was just that. A Demon masquerading as a child. Hah! It never fooled him, that was for sure. However, he still had to keep It out of the shinobi forces, who knew what It would do. And if It was truly tamed, then It being an official shinobi of Konoha would not be good for Lord Orochimaru's plans. Either way, he needed for It to fail the graduation exam if he was going to go forward with his plans.

"No, it must be the Clone jutsu taught here at the Academy." Mizuki said flatly, not letting any of his thoughts show on his face.

Naruto made a face, but performed the Clone jutsu, using the tiniest speck of Chakra that he could, knowing it would do no good. His Chakra control was miles better than it was a year ago, he could walk on water and everything! But it was still nowhere near good enough for this jutsu, and never would be. Not for an Uzumaki, anyway.

He grimaced at the pathetic sight beside him, well... at least it had color to it, that was better than the last time he attempted this jutsu for his Academy instructors.

Mizuki outwardly sighed in disappointment, inwardly he was cheering at how well his plans were going. "I'm sorry, Naruto. But, that means a fail for this section. Which means I can't let you graduate." Mizuki put a sympathetic look on his face and looked like he was truly disappointed and sad to be crushing a child's hopes.

Naruto looked down, disappointment written all over his face. He really was disappointed, too. He'd hoped to graduate the normal way, with the rest of his class. Now he would have to get a field evaluation from the Hokage. Mizuki looked at the Demon and glanced at the door before deciding it wasn't worth the risk.

"Meet me after school lets out today by the swing, we'll discuss some options for you." He said, trying to be gentle. If Naruto was any less smart or observant, he would have bought it. As it was, now he was curious.

* * *

When he left the Academy, he wasn't surprised to see Kakashi-nii standing outside near the tree, separate from the other students and their parents. He idly scanned the new Genin, looking like he was studying his potential students. He spotted Sasuke Uchiha leaving the Academy, only for the boy to stop and sneer at all the happy families before turning around and walking off. Naruto wasn't surprised to sense a few other Jonin hanging around the Academy building, studying their potential students.

Kakashi and his relationship started out... rocky, to say the least. Naruto was well aware of who Kakashi Hatake was, he was the only surviving student of the Fourth Hokage. From what he had read and heard from various sources, the Fourth, Naruto's father, practically adopted Kakashi when his own father committed Seppuku. Which more or less made them brothers. And yet, where was Kakashi all these years? Hiding and watching him from the shadows, doing his duty as a member of ANBU to protect the village Jinchuuriki. Not interacting with him, not even saying hello or leaving proper food out. Not doing his duty as an older brother. As a result, it took awhile for Naruto to really warm up to him, and it was only after Kakashi caved and begged his forgiveness and explained why he wasn't there. Now, they had the kind of relationship that Kakashi knew Minato and Kushina wanted them to have from the start.

Now if only the Civilian Council would stop sticking their noses where they didn't belong and repeatedly hamper every effort the two had of living together. Naruto's apartment certainly wasn't habitable, and yet they kept him there, anyway. Well, once Naruto was a genin, they would have no say in the matter anymore.

"Hey, nii-san." He greeted him. "What'cha doin' out here?"

"Waiting for you. No headband?" Kakashi asked, concerned. After all the training and effort Naruto put in for the past year, he was genuinely surprised. He knew Naruto was deliberately aiming for being the dead-last so he could be on Kakashi's team, did he miscalculate and do too badly?

Naruto scowled. "Mizuki wouldn't let me do Shadow Clones, he said it _had _to be the regular Clone. Then he said to meet out here to 'discuss my options.'"

Kakashi felt a burst of anger towards the Academy Chunin, and then confusion. "What about Iruka? I thought Lord Hokage told him about the problem you were having, and that he taught you Shadow Clones."

"Iruka-sensei was called away to watch another class finish their Taijutsu practice while _their _sensei had to take two of their classmates to the hospital. I heard they got a little... carried away during their spar." The yells from the classmates of those two had been loud enough that Naruto heard it, not really loud and clear because of the distance but he still heard it, from where his class was taking the weapons portion of their exam.

Kakashi blinked. Seriously? Moving on... "This was your third try, wasn't it? Normally that means dropping you from the program completely, unless you petition to be reexamined by different proctors. But the Hokage already said you would get a field evaluation if you failed out this time."

Naruto shrugged. "I figured I would at least hear what he wanted."

Kakashi hummed. "I'll wait over by the gate for you, then. We'll go out to eat before going to report to the Hokage." He suggested. Naruto lit up "No ramen, though. I don't think my wallet can take another beating like that right now." He amended quickly. Naruto visibly deflated. He chuckled and ruffled the kids hair (Naruto squawked and batted at his hand) before heading towards the gate. A quick burst of KI was enough to shut a few civilian parents mouths when they started talking badly about his little brother. He grumbled to himself before settling in to wait while watching the rest of the new Genin. He shook his head in disbelief. They were so naive. They knew nothing about the real world. They were going to get a rude awakening.

When he settled in, he glanced towards the top of the tree he had been standing beside, and locked eyes with Asuma, who nodded and turned his attention to keeping an eye on Naruto instead of watching the new Genin with the rest of the Jonin sitting in the tree around him. At this point, it was the worst kept secret among the Elite Jonin that Kakashi had been assigned to tutor Naruto over the past year. Or that the two had grown close, and Kakashi would rip apart anybody who bad-mouthed his young charge or tried to shirk their duty if assigned to guarding him.

Naruto didn't have to wait long, "Hey, Naruto. Thanks for waiting. Let's go somewhere more private, alright?" Mizuki asked, glancing at all the parents and their children, and knowing the Jonin picked to be this years new sensei would be in the tree above him. They really liked this tree, for some reason. He was also annoyed and could use the walk to calm down. Iruka had spent the last five minutes going over the scores and questioning him on Naruto's fail, he'd barely managed to get away with claiming to have thought they changed that so that only the regular Clone could be used.

What did the Demon's use of the name 'Uzumaki' have to do with having naturally large Chakra reserves? Iruka would be thanking him for freeing him from the Demon's control later.

Naruto frowned minutely before following. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kakashi glance at the Jonin in the tree before shaking his head and following after a minute. His instincts were still screaming, but he felt better about this with Kakashi following.

Twenty minutes later, he was sitting on top of a water tower with the Chunin, listening to him discuss how good he did with the rest of the exam, and how he would have passed if not for that last jutsu. "Which is why... I'm going to offer you the make-up test." Mizuki finally said, smiling slightly. Kakashi, who was listening just within hearing range (but still close enough to act if needed) frowned. What make-up test?

"Now, a major component of this will be stealth, and this is a practical. Think of it as a training scenario for a real-life situation. The goal is to break into a location and get out again with the required information. In this case, you will break into the Hokage Tower and 'steal' a scroll that will be planted just for this purpose. You will then take it to a remote location and, this is where it differs from an actual intelligence gathering mission, you must learn a jutsu from it. It doesn't have to be mastered, but it does have to be passably performed."

Kakashi's eyes widened. He was telling Naruto to commit treason! He groaned when he realized Naruto was signing something behind his back, and interpreted it to mean Naruto wanted to let this play out. Oh, that boy was going to be in for a world of hurt come end of training tomorrow, that was for sure. Mentally, he started running down the list of people he would need to alert to what was really going on, otherwise Naruto's only option might be to go with Mizuki when he attempted to escape. The Hokage for sure, at least now the Hokage wouldn't have to come up with something for Naruto's field evaluation, Mizuki was handing it to them on a silver platter.

"Really?" Naruto asked, sounding excited, and he actually was. The Hokage Tower was somewhere he hadn't pranked in a while, he needed to be sure his skills were still sharp enough. "Alright! What does the scroll look like, and where do I take it?"

Mizuki grinned, genuinely this time because of how his plans were falling into place, and gave a description of the scroll and where it was in the Tower. "And, when you get it, meet me at the abandoned storage shed out beyond Training Ground 33, you know where that is?" He asked, it wouldn't do for his plans to fail just because the Demon got lost. Unlikely given It's tendency to prank and get into places It shouldn't be, but you never know.

"Yup, I know where it is." Naruto was very familiar with that shed, it was where he used to store his prank supplies so his ANBU guard didn't find it and confiscate everything 'for the safety of the village'. Which was a load of bullcrap, if you asked him. Now, ever since the Hokage started him on Fuinjutsu, he stored all of his prank supplies and everything else that he deemed valuable (like his inheritance from his parents, which included the Uzumaki clan library that Kushina managed to salvage from the ruins of Uzushio), in blood-sealed storage seals tattooed on the inside crook of his elbows (prank and trapping supplies on the left, important things on the right).

He kept Kunai and the training sword Kakashi got him in similar seals on the inside of his wrists, and of course his weapon pouches had storage seals sewn into almost every inch of the inside surface. Some held more weapons, others held a book to read if he had to wait for whatever reason and got bored, and others held camping gear and food rations. Some scrolls held extra clothes, and, of course, he had scrolls in his weapon pouch containing training and food supplies for his Ninken, Aika.

"Good. You have until ten o'clock tonight to get the scroll and meet me there, with a jutsu learned." Mizuki said, getting up and hopping down the side of the building. If Naruto couldn't do that too, he would have been amazed.

"You know, we could just arrest him here and now. He described the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. It contains some of the villages most dangerous and closely guarded jutsu. Including the Shadow Clones, for some reason." He honestly couldn't understand that one, yeah, it was a high-ranking kinjutsu, but it also wasn't really guarded that much. It was made for the Uzumaki, after all.

"I know." Naruto said. "But, what if it's not just him? Somebody else might show up with him tonight. And, this would make a great field evaluation!" And here Kakashi had been impressed with the level of strategic thinking Naruto had put into it.

He rolled his eye(s). "Well, at any rate, you have until ten to meet him. Since you already know a jutsu from that scroll, it saves you quite a bit of time before you have to 'steal' it, although you should probably do that bit around seven or eight to add credibility." Kakashi thought for a moment. "How were you going to do this?" He asked suddenly remembering that this was going to be Naruto's field evaluation, so he should let Naruto plan it out.

"First, you promised me dinner, then we can go talk to Gramps. I figure I can 'steal' the scroll around six-thirty, and we can train a bit together somewhere isolated before I go meet him at ten." Naruto said after a few moments thought.

Kakashi shook his head, he was going to be in so much trouble once they reported this to the Hokage. Oh, well. Naruto would get his way, he usually did in some way. Especially when he laid out his reasons logically. "We'll go eat then , I was in the mood for Bar-B-Que." That, and there were only three restaurants, outside of Ichiraku's, Kakashi had taken him to that had not tried to poison Naruto in the past year.

(The restaurants in question had high turn-over rates over the past year as they lost customers and the Hokage tried to force them to close. In the end, though, they were civilian establishments, and the Civilian Council made sure they didn't stay closed for long.

It did, however, cause them to fall out of favor with the village Shinobi, no matter how they personally felt about Naruto. After all, most had seen the kid around the village with Kakashi, or knew Kakashi had been the one to take him there in the first place, and had later been on the warpath.)

The only four restaurants Kakashi would go to anymore, was Ichiraku Ramen (naturally), Yak-in-iku Bar-B-Que, the Rusty Kunai (they served great food, they weren't just a Shinobi bar), and the Dango stand. He supposed that it said quite a bit that two of those places were owned by the Akimichi clan. They owned other restaurants of course, but a few of them were civilian managed and were among those that tried to poison him.

Needless to say, they were no longer managed by civilians.

"Yeah! Let's go, I'm hungry." Naruto quickly forgot about everything with Mizuki in favor of his stomach, he'd ended up not eating lunch because Sakura and Ino had seen fit to steal it while he was talking to Iruka, unfortunately he couldn't prove it was them.

Kakashi only smirked beneath his mask and shook his head fondly before following.

* * *

"YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!" Mizuki yelled, getting ready to throw his Fuma-shuriken.

Iruka, who'd apparently not gotten the message about what was really going on here, and somehow managed to get past Kakashi and his ANBU squad (who were observing this evaluation and ready to provide back-up if needed) yelled again for Mizuki to stop, and prepared to get between him and his favorite student.

Not that he _had _favorites...

"Yeah... I'm gonna say, _no_. No, I'm not the Fox, I'm very much human, last I checked. Geez, have more faith in your Hokage." Naruto grumbled. He was relieved, though. When Iruka had shown up, he'd thought, for one heart-breaking moment, that the only Academy teacher to ever be nice to him and actually _try _to teach him something, was in on this. That Iruka was a traitor to the village with Mizuki.

However, his reaction and confusion to what was happening had all seemed genuine. He would probably be questioned by Ibiki and Inoichi just in case, though. He wished he could have told him what was really going on, but he'd smelled Mizuki nearby for the last ten minutes before Iruka showed up, and had to stay in 'character'.

That was over. Both Academy Chunin stared at him in shock, "Huh?" Mizuki asked intelligently. Naruto could hear a few ANBU break and start snickering quietly before a hissed word focused them again. He could practically sense Kakashi rolling his eye(s?).

"Naruto... how long have you known?" Iruka asked quietly.

"A while. People aren't quiet when discussing me... and I have really good hearing. Gramps had to beg the Inuzuka to teach me how to properly use my enhanced senses." He was still proud of that, and that he was allowed to keep Aika. "Also, I was born that day... and it's a being made of Chakra... I never really bought that story about him killing it." He nodded his head once. Then he shook himself.

"Still up to your old tricks, I see." Mizuki muttered, to everybodies confusion. His psychological attacks didn't work, so he was just going to have to do it the old fashioned way. "Die, Demon!" He yelled before throwing the giant shuriken in his hand. In another world, Naruto knew nothing of the seal holding the Fox, and froze, forcing Iruka to use himself as a shield to save his life. Here, however, Mizuki didn't tell him anything new, and he didn't freeze up.

Narrowing his eyes, he _moved._ Iruka didn't know what was happening, but suddenly he was standing on top of some branches with ANBU around him and a Clone of Naruto holding his arm while a clone horde beat the daylights out of Mizuki. "I knew he learned Shadow Clones, but..." He breathed. Hearing a light chuckle behind him, he whipped around to see Kakashi Hatake leaning against the trunk of the next tree over, in full ANBU armor but with his mask tied to his belt.

"Yes, he is rather talented with them, isn't he?" The book snapped shut and the Jonin/ANBU captain jumped to join Iruka on his branch. "Good job, kid." He nodded approvingly when he looked down at the beaten form of the (now former) Academy teacher. The Clone that was still standing on the branch with them smirked and dispelled. Looking down, Iruka himself smiled in pride. The two joined the ANBU when they jumped down to the ground to officially take Mizuki into custody. Naruto's part in his capture was done, now it was Ibiki and Anko's turn.

"Hey, Naruto, come here." Iruka called softly. He still had no idea what was really going on here, but clearly the ANBU had been involved from the beginning. Which meant the Hokage knew, which meant Iruka probably interrupted something important. "Close your eyes." Naruto looked confused, but did as he was told, trusting Kakashi behind him to not let anything happen to him, and trusting his favorite Academy teacher as well. He heard some rustling, and then something was placed over his forehead and tied in place. "Alright." Iruka said softly.

When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Iruka without his headband, reaching up, his eyes widened when he felt the smooth metal with the Konoha symbol carved into the middle. "Congratulations, Naruto. You've officially graduated." Iruka announced with a grin, and Naruto himself grinned widely with a cheer before bowling his teacher over in a massive hug. Kakashi relaxed, pleased to see his little brother so happy and at ease with the Chunin.

"Well, I see everything went well, good job, Naruto." Everyone turned at the elderly voice, the ANBU going into a quick salute before going back to work doing whatever it was ANBU did. "Iruka, how did you know to be here tonight?" The Hokage asked, concerned. He'd been watching the evaluation in his crystal ball, he'd seen everything. As soon as he saw Naruto send a Clone to get Iruka out of the way before the horde descended on Mizuki, he'd left the office to come out in person.

Iruka laughed nervously and scratched at the scar on his face. "Ah... well, I actually managed to get to bed early, only for Mizuki to wake me up about an hour ago to tell me that Naruto stole the Forbidden Scroll and everyone was needed to look for him. He gave me the area I was supposed to search," He gestured around the clearing they were in, "And I had no reason to doubt that the orders came from anyone but you." He was deeply ashamed to have listened to anything Mizuki said.

"Hmm. Well, do not worry. He was a trusted comrade until twenty minutes ago. It is good that you trust your comrades." The Hokage could tell that his trust in Mizuki was bothering the younger man.

Iruka blinked at him, then sighed and grinned a little ruefully. "Thanks, sir." He murmured.

"Now, you do understand that you will need to go see Inoichi before we let you go back home? The only reason I let this happen instead of just arresting him earlier today was because Naruto had a point when he said Mizuki might have an accomplice." He said bluntly. He didn't _think_ Iruka would turn traitor, or was in on this, but one never knows in this kind of lifestyle.

"Yes, sir. I understand." Iruka glanced behind him to see one of the ANBU standing there, ready to escort him. He glanced down at his torn and bloody vest and grimaced. He just got this one, too, when his old one was destroyed on one of the occasional B-ranks he took out of the village.

"Perhaps the hospital first, though." Hiruzen suggested to Cat, who nodded and laid a hand on Iruka's shoulder, who allowed the transport. He knew that the only reason he wasn't being dragged straight to T&I was because of the trust the Hokage showed, and probably Naruto's influence as well.

He only hoped he could be cleared before the team assignments in the morning.

* * *

"... on Team Seven," He paused and winced. This wasn't going to be good. At least Naruto and Kakashi would have each other, otherwise they might be liable to kill the other two out of sheer irritation. "Is Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto groaned loudly when Sakura was announced to be on his team, and his head hit the desk with a loud and painful sounding _Thunk!_ when Sasuke was announced as the third member. Even though he had known that Sasuke would be on his team no matter what, and he had even planned just for this event. Sakura was almost the opposite. She'd whined and complained about being on a team with him, but was ecstatic about being on the team with Sasuke, almost immediately turning to rub it in Ino's face. "You're Jonin-sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

Aika yipped beside him in excitement, making Kiba give him another strange look (he couldn't figure out why Naruto had an Inuzuka ninken). Naruto let a pleased smile cross his lips, that worked out just like he planned, although he really would have rather had Hinata on his team instead of Sakura. Even Ino would have been better, she was at least from a clan, and therefore actually took the lifestyle of a shinobi seriously.

Oh well, beggars couldn't be choosers, could they? He learned that when he lived on the streets after being kicked out of the orphanage when he was five.

His eyes widened and he smirked when, after lunch, Kakashi was the first Jonin through the door, much to the amazement and disbelief of his fellow Jonin. In fact, two of them seemed to be trying to dispel the Genjutsu they thought they must be under. Something that Naruto could tell really annoyed his older brother. "Would you stop, already?" He finally hissed in irritation. They stopped, looking at him wide-eyed, but Asuma seemed to have spotted something that made his eyes widen for a completely different reason, and he stopped them from saying or doing anything else that might irritate the man.

Part of the irritation was from the fact he'd been sent on an emergency ANBU assignment last night right after making sure Naruto got back to his apartment alright, and therefore just got back to the village. As a result, (after reporting in to the Hokage) he hadn't time to pay any respects at the memorial yet, he barely had time to change out of his ANBU armor and back into his Jonin uniform, after cleaning the blood off, of course. However, in his haste, he missed a spot.

Something that only Asuma and Naruto seemed to have noticed. Kakashi still had blood on him... (Neither said anything, though. Naruto would say something later in private.)

Another reason for his irritation might have also been the fact that Naruto had left a note in his apartment reminding him to be on time, or Naruto would make him pay for his ramen for the next week. Although, there was also pride there, he was insanely proud of his little brother for blackmailing people already.

Naruto's apartment had already been packed up and the building put on lock-down. (He owned it, the Hokage bought it out from under the civilians when everywhere else refused to allow him to rent a place there, no matter that it was the Hokage himself willing to sign for it all. Genin teams were hired monthly for the general building maintenance and big repairs.) Now that he was a shinobi, the Civilian Council had zero control over him, let alone who he lived with, and he was moving in with Kakashi like they'd planned for the last year.

Really, Naruto should have been living with him for years, now.

Of course, the biggest cause for irritation came from 'post-mission jitters'. He hadn't had time to re-center himself yet. Asuma could only hope that Naruto could keep him calm enough to not kill their new team before he was able to bring himself down. He just knew that Uchiha kid would say something to set the highly-skilled, deadly, and (at the moment) jumpy man off. Honestly, that kid had an attitude problem, and Asuma didn't think he'd ever gotten help for the Massacre. His graduation should have probably been postponed or outright cancelled on those grounds alone.

"Team seven, roof in five minutes." Was all Kakashi said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, Naruto followed close behind, having finally mastered this technique the night before after nearly two weeks of struggling through it.

Both of them frowned when Sasuke and Sakura didn't join them until seven minutes later, panting slightly and breathing hard, respectively. "You're out of shape. You should have made that distance in two minutes or less, instead you're both two minutes _late_. And you're out of breath on top of that. Pathetic." Kakashi muttered the last bit under his breath quietly, so that only Naruto heard. He was much calmer now, having spent the last few minutes just holding Naruto to his side and talking to him about his morning and new teammates. He was still jittery, though, and in a more ANBU mindset than the 'Jonin-sensei' one he needed to be in.

Sasuke growled at him, but Kakashi started speaking again before he could say anything. Both Kakashi and Naruto noticed how Sakura was practically trying to sit on his lap while he was constantly moving away from her. Maybe him being out of breath wasn't so much from the trip up here, but from spending most of that trip trying to avoid her...? "Girl!" Kakashi barked. "Sit down on the steps, there is plenty of room you shouldn't be sitting in his lap." He hated fangirls. He noticed the grateful look Sasuke shot him, as well as the sulky/pouty expression on her face.

Did she think that was cute, or was going to do anything for her? Kami, all it did was make her look like a toddler not getting her way.

(In the nearby trees, Team 9, who Gai had dragged out to see his 'eternal-rivals' team (and so he could be on hand to protect the Genin if needed, 'post-mission jitters' were nothing to be taken lightly, especially in the higher ranks and among the Elite), all looked on in disgust for the girl. Ten-Ten in particular couldn't believe she was acting like this. Any romantic thoughts Lee may have had towards her were shattered by her behavior, and Neji shuddered, thinking of his fangirls over the years. Gai frowned in concern.

When Kakashi had showed up at his teams training grounds during their lunch break, he had tried to convince him to get somebody else to pick up his team and give them his instructions for the next day, but the stubborn Jonin wouldn't have it. Well, at least it was a short mission, and Naruto was there to help calm him. Loved ones were a proven and fool-proof way to bring somebody down, after all. Or at least, they stood the greatest chance of remaining unharmed in any way.

"Most un-youthful." Lee muttered, watching Sakura's behavior and remembering all the girls acting the same way towards Neji in the Academy. Gai pursed his lips and nodded in agreement. He would visit Kakashi after this and challenge him to something, that should help, but just in case, he was going to have his team there to watch the Bell-test.)

Naruto touched his arm, he was still perched on the railing beside him. He glanced at him and mentally counted to ten before he spoke again. "Now then. Let's introduce ourselves, shall we?" He asked, sounding much more cheerful, even if he didn't feel it.

"How do you mean?" Sakura asked, and Kakashi almost clutched at his ears from her shrill voice while Aika whined softly. Kami, he might fail the two of them just on principle at this point, maybe he could cite personal health concerns. After all, if she destroyed his hearing, it would affect his being able to do his job, wouldn't it? All that aside, she was the Top Kuniochi this year?

"Well, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, that kind of thing." He said, and was about to tell her to go first, when she asked him to show them how it was done. He could only stare at her for a moment. (Ten-Ten could only slap her forehead and shake her head in defeat. Lee patted her back consolingly.)

"Maybe I could ask Gramps to check that the grades weren't fixed or something." Naruto muttered, barely loud enough for even Kakashi to hear. Mentally, Kakashi agreed, but he wasn't about to let any of that show. One of their instructors _had _been a traitor working for one of Konoha's more famous missing-nin, after all.

Instead, he sighed. "Alright then, well, I'm Kakashi Hatake. I like a lot of things, and dislike many more. Hobbies, well, I don't think you're old enough for that. Dreams... hmm, never really thought about it much." He shrugged. Mentally, Naruto translated what he said as, _"I like my little brother, Naruto, and taking my Ninken pack for long walks. I don't really care for Ramen all that much, although I eat a lot of it, I hate those who hurt my precious people, ignorance, and _hate _traitors. My hobbies are reading books that you are really too young to even know exist. I don't really have dreams for the future." _Secretly, he smiled.

Sasuke and Sakura just stared at him for a second before Sakura suddenly screeched. "WHAT?! But all we learned was his name!" Aika yelped and started pawing at her ears in pain. Naruto and Kakashi both twitched and Kakashi's hand twitched towards his weapon pouch before Naruto's hand gently restrained it. In his tree, Gai got ready to move while his team winced at her volume. (Gai and Lee could be loud, but it wasn't a _shrill _loud.)

"Hey! Keep it down will ya? Some of us have sensitive hearing over here." He protested, making sure his pup was alright.

"Oh, please, what's it to you?" She sneered.

He glared. "I wasn't just talking about me." He growled back, gesturing towards his partner and motioning with his head towards where Kakashi's hand was still suspiciously close to weapon pouch. He almost wanted to mention that he was still coming down post-mission, but knew he wasn't even technically supposed to know he'd _had _a mission last night. Besides, he didn't even know if the girl would know what he was talking about.

"Alright, you two." Kakashi shot Naruto a warning look, and he gazed back unapologetically. "Pinky, you can go first. And, keep it down." He ordered.

She shot Naruto a venomous glare before she went ahead and started talking. "I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like, I mean... _high pitched squeal, glance at Sasuke, _my hobbies are, _even higher pitched squeal, giggles and a predatory glance at Sasuke, who twitched uncomfortably, _my dreams for the future... _giggles and another high pitched squeal before going off into dreamland._" Team 9 and Kakashi's ANBU team (who had shown up about a minute ago to get a look at the brats taking their captain away) all looked at her in horrified disgust. Naruto made a mental note to head over to Sasuke's place after the test tomorrow and slap the highest grade security seals he knew so far over every inch of it. (Last he heard, Sasuke lived in an apartment close to his Clan Compound, which had been closed down after the Massacre, with Genin teams being hired to perform general maintenance on the buildings.)

"And your dislikes?" Kakashi asked while Naruto tightened his grip on the hand that was inching towards his weapon pouch.

"NARUTO!" She yelled, snapping out of her day-dream. The nearby ANBU twitched and muttered, almost as one, 'she's dead'. Gai tensed again, ready to move if needed. Naruto's eyes widened and he pressed himself against Kakashi's side more while gripping the hand harder.

"Broody." Kakashi gritted out, trying to control himself. "You next."

Sasuke glanced uncertainly at Sakura, who seemed completely oblivious to the fact she was lucky to still be alive, and turned to Naruto. "Should he be here right now?" He recognized the signs of somebody with post-mission jitters who hadn't properly come down yet. His brother had been like this a few times (he'd been alright after spending time with Sasuke), and one of his distant cousins had almost taken his head off once before Itachi interfered. He wouldn't even bother asking the Deadlast anything, but it was clear he and Kakashi were close otherwise Kakashi wouldn't be letting him sit so close, let alone hold onto his dominant hand (although all shinobi were ambidextrous to a degree).

Naruto grimaced, but shook his head. Well, at least Sasuke knew what was going on, he probably recognized the signs from when his clan was still alive. "Talk." He mouthed, wanting to get the rest of this meeting over with so he and Kakashi could go home. Sakura looked between the two of them, completely confused while Kakashi frowned at his brother.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment, but began his introduction, deciding to keep it to the point so they could get their instructions and get away from the Jonin. "Sasuke Uchiha, I like tomatoes and training. I dislike traitors and murderers, my hobbies are training, and I don't have dreams. I have an ambition, to avenge my clan." He said simply, and truthfully without holding much back. He didn't want to provoke his new sensei in any way right now. Gai and the nearby ANBU nodded in approval. At least he seemed to have a head on his shoulders, contrary to the concerns they'd had when Kakashi went to speak to Inoichi about Sasuke's psych-evaluations after the Massacre, only to be told he'd never been in counseling.

The bit about avenging his clan could be a concern, though. That was something Kakashi would have to nip before it grew more, although the fact he admitted to disliking traitors was a good sign. Avengers, however, were known for doing whatever it took and killing whoever stood in their way. They would turn on their closest comrades and friends without a second thought often-times. Ah, well, they were sure Kakashi would make sure the kid had regular appointments with the Yamanaka clan, and he would make sure the kid went, too.

"Alright, Naruto. How about you?" Kakashi finally asked, turning to look at the blonde.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my Ninken, Aika. I like ramen, especially Ichiraku's, I also like my precious people. I dislike instant ramen, there isn't much flavor and I hate waiting for it to cook (that and it was all he had to live off of for so long, until Kakashi made sure he ate properly), I hate traitors and those who can't tell the difference between a jail and the jailer. My hobbies are gardening and learning new jutsu. My dream is to become Hokage, and surpass all the others!" He proudly announced, tightening his grip on Kakashi's hand again when Sakura scoffed. A Clone appeared behind her and clamped his hand over her mouth before she could open it and say something stupid, though.

"Alright, then." He was finally switching mental gears towards 'Jonin-sensei' and away from 'ANBU' at least. "Meet me here tomorrow at 6 AM, we have a little... survival exercise." He grinned evilly, eyeing the pinkette. He pulled out and handed around a paper with the directions of where they were supposed to meet.

"What kind of survival exercise, we did those all the time in the Academy." Sakura asked, boasting a little and still oblivious to the danger she was in.

Naruto snorted, knowing (from experience) that Kakashi and the Academy had two _very _different ideas of what a proper survival exercise was.

"Oh, _this one _will be your final graduation exam." Kakashi was taking an almost sadistic pleasure in this. Gai was disapproving, but he also knew his friend hadn't come down yet.

"WHAT?!" Sakura screeched again. "But we've already graduated the Academy!"

Naruto growled while Aika whined again in pain. "Would you keep it down, already?" He demanded, comforting his dog.

Ignoring the glare she was shooting Naruto, he continued. "Yes, the Academy exam... That was to weed out the hopeless cases, you have not passed _my _exam. The Jonin-sensei have the right to decide if their new students are... shall we say worthy of their time? This test has a 66% failure rate, after all. Now, a little bit of advice, don't eat breakfast, or you'll puke." He advised before he disappeared, reappearing on the tree branch beside Gai, who immediately put a hand on his wrist gently and made sure he himself was slightly in front of the other Jonin.

Back on the rooftop, Naruto sighed, shooting a glare in the direction he knew Kakashi was in, watching. He knew he had to make an attempt at at least working with them and building a professional relationship, if nothing else. Teamwork was one of Kakashi's biggest things to preach on, after all. "So... do you guys want to meet up in a few hours to go over plans for tomorrow?" He asked, somewhat hoping they would say no, but also knowing that if they didn't show they could work together, it was back to the Academy for them. Kakashi would probably sign him on as his apprentice or something if need be, but as much as he didn't like these two, he didn't want to purposely ruin their careers before they even really got started.

Immediately, Sakura's face twisted into an ugly sneer. "Eew, why would we want to meet up with you?" She moved forward and tried to hit him, which was something he hadn't allowed in over a year, but at this point he wondered if she'd even noticed that or not. Now, however, he was done with simply dodging. A professional relationship would never be possible if she didn't at least learn to start treating him like one of her teammates, which she could start by not trying to hit him every time he said something! With a frown, he caught her clumsy punch and shoved her arm behind her back, holding it at an awkward angle, not enough to hurt, but enough to hopefully get his message across.

"I would ask that you stop trying to hit me. It got old years ago." He said coldly. "Like it or not, Sakura, we are on the same team, I suggest you start acting like it. Sasuke? Planning session in two hours?" He asked, not taking his eyes off Sakura once he released her.

Sasuke studied them for a few moments before snorting and walking away. Sakura squealed and cried, "Wait for me, Sasuke!" And ran after him like a lost puppy.

"I guess that's a 'no'." Naruto sighed. Oh well, they would learn.

If they passed the test tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Sasuke and Sakura both showed up at the designated Training Field at 5:45, both wanting to be a little early in hopes of being on their new sensei's good side before the test.

And they waited.

And waited.

And waited some more...

At roughly 6:30, Team 9 settled into some nearby trees, having already completed a light (by their standards) morning workout, and Gai sighed at seeing his friend not there yet, not that he really expected anything less. Although, he had gotten much, much better about it since taking on Naruto. The fact Naruto _could_ and _would_ prank him seven ways to Sunday if his habits annoyed him enough probably helped. Naruto was a trap-specialist, he was so good that the ANBU had asked him several times over the past year to teach their new recruits the intricacies of traps, far more than they learned as Chunin or even Jonin. As they settled in, Gai pulled out their breakfast, since it was his turn to bring it for the team.

"Where are Kakashi-sensei and Naruto?" Lee asked, looking at the two annoyed looking rookies.

"He will be here soon, Naruto is probably with him, trying to get him moving." Gai was being purposely vague. Everybody knew what happened during that last mission at the end of the war. They all knew that the then Team 7 came back short a member. However, nobody knew what exactly happened, beyond that Kakashi now had a Sharingan implanted in place of his left eye, and his public persona took a complete 180.

In fact, his personality many times actually seemed to emulate that of his lost team-mate. Gai suspected that the only reason the Yamanaka didn't have him deemed unfit for duty, was because he managed himself so well, and his coping mechanisms were harmless, if extremely annoying.

"Most unyouthful." Lee muttered, frowning down at the clearing. He'd heard about Kakashi's habit of being late, but he'd never really seen it happen.

Gai grimaced. "Maybe, but do not judge prematurely." He simply said. His students looked at him curiously, but he didn't say anything else.

At seven, Naruto and a sulky-looking Kakashi finally showed up, and Gai breathed a sigh of relief because Kakashi looked much more relaxed today than he did the day before.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched, to the misery of three of her companions, and the annoyance of the forth.

"I might sic' Anko on her if she doesn't quiet down." Kakashi muttered to his little brother, who hid a smile and nodded. Recovering, he turned to them and said, "Sorry about that, Naruto and I got lost on the road of life, and then had to make a small detour to help a little old lady with her shopping." Naruto raised an eyebrow. While they had helped an old lady with her shopping, that was two weeks ago... not this morning. He didn't say anything, though. "And what have we said about keeping your voice down?" Kakashi reminded the pinkette.

She glared mutinously. "Alright, then, let's get started, shall we?" He suddenly clapped.

Sasuke had sidled up to Naruto while Kakashi berated Sakura for her volume again. "Is he better this morning?" He didn't want to be near him if he was still jittery.

"Yup, he's good." Naruto flashed a bright grin. Last night they had collected Naruto's things and closed his building up, with security seals included, before spending a quiet night at home, doing nothing except unpacking Naruto's things. In fact, Naruto was surprised nobody had commented on his changed wardrobe this morning yet. He was still wearing orange, but it was a duller orange, and there wasn't as much of it. He had on black shinobi pants, his sandals were now black instead of standard blue, and he had on mesh armor under his dull orange t-shirt and black jacket with orange accents. And, of course, his Uzumaki clan spiral was sitting on his shoulder.

"Listen up! You have until noon," Kakashi said, holding up the brand new alarm clock he and Naruto had needed to buy this morning, after his old one blared in his ear one time too many this morning. "The goal is to get these two bells from me." He held them up before tying them to his belt while he waited for one of them to ask...

"But... there's only two bells." Sakura spoke up, concerned. Although, she knew she could beat Naruto no problem.

He knew it would be the pinkette. Well, at least he knew the Academy taught them how to count this time around, he had one group a few years ago... "Yup! Whoever fails will be sent back to the Academy." He said with false cheer. "Once the alarm sounds, one of you, whichever one doesn't get a bell or whoever I feel like, will be tied to a post while the rest of us eat our lunch in front of you." He eye-smiled at them, enjoying the protesting of the pinkette far more than he probably should. The only acknowledgement from Sasuke was a narrowing of his eyes as they fixed on the bells with a determined glint to them.

Naruto, of course, already knew the basics of this test from watching the last genin team Kakashi had forced on him. (They failed epically, they were by far the worst team he had ever tested.)

"Now, once we start, I expect you to attack with the intent to kill me. That's the only chance you will have." He shrugged. Well, the only chance was if they could work together, but he wasn't going to tell them that, that would defeat part of the tests purpose. Judging by their personalities, they might manage it in the second test, which he was only giving so he could keep the council off his back if he ended up having to fail their precious Uchiha.

"WHAT?! But isn't that dangerous?" Sakura yelled, shocked that her new sensei would tell them to do something like that. Did he want to be killed? Was he insane?

(Tenten facepalmed with a growl and Neji reached over to pat her on the back consolingly. "I'm sure Kakashi Hatake will whip her into shape." He muttered, probably literally, too. She grunted, head still in her hands.)

Kakashi was mildly offended, and both he and Naruto eyed her like they'd never seen anything like her before. She did know he was an elite Jonin, right? Unless one of them got in an extremely lucky shot, he wasn't expecting to break a sweat, well, maybe against Naruto... but only because the boy was a stamina freak and it took a lot to wear him down. But, too, she didn't leave the Academy not having considered the fact she was going to kill, did she?

"Volume! And it might be the only way you have to get a bell." He simply said again, and watched with a sigh as she glanced at Sasuke before her resolve seemed to harden.

Kakashi eyed them again before he put the clock down on a stump and hit the timer. "Begin." All three disappeared into the surrounding trees. He sighed before creating two shadow clones to map out any traps Naruto would have most likely set up the night before, or sent a clone the night before, and settled in to wait for a bit.

He'd give them all a chance to come to him before he started hunting. He knew Naruto would probably make a few attempts, most likely on his own, before he settled back to aid the others if he could.

* * *

12:10.

Naruto sat on top of the post and sighed. That went about how he and Kakashi expected.

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura would listen to him, and his lone attacks on Kakashi failed, although he liked to think he got closer than Sasuke did, and Kakashi almost got caught in some of his traps, so that was a plus.

Eventually, he ended up running around trying to help the other two only to get yelled at for his efforts. For the last hour, he ended up sitting in the tree with Gai-sensei and his team, chatting with his friend Lee, and getting advice from the more experienced genin now that he himself was officially a genin.

When the alarm went off, he'd made his way to the posts to see Kakashi tying Sakura up. Throughout the whole thing, Aika had sat to the side with Pakkun, watching while the more experienced ninken gave her advice on how best she could aid her human at different points during the fight.

"Well, looks like none of you will go back to the Academy." Kakashi said dryly. He'd honestly had higher hopes from them, especially after the way Sasuke had looked to Naruto in how to deal with Kakashi's mood yesterday.

"Huh? We passed?" Sakura asked stupidly while Naruto looked suspicious. "But all I did was pass out, you get points for that?" Naruto resisted the urge to face-palm. At least she admitted she was useless...

"No, two of you will be dropped from the program entirely while Naruto will be made my apprentice." The 'officially' went unsaid for those who knew.

Sasuke and Sakura's mouths dropped open in shock. "WHAT?!" Sakura screeched, wiggling around on the post she was tied to. "What did he do except get in Sasuke's way?" She demanded. "If anyone should be apprenticed, it's Sasuke!"

Kakashi's face looked thunderous. "Out of all three of you, Naruto is the only one who understood the true purpose of this test." He growled. "And for the last time, watch your volume!"

"True purpose?" Sakura asked, completely confused.

He sighed in aggravation. "It's so simple. Teamwork!" He didn't yell, but his voice raised and took on a stern 'I am your commanding officer, you will listen' tone.

"What do you mean? All he did was get in the way, how is that teamwork?" She argued.

"No, he was trying to help, which you didn't let him. He had a plan to get the bells, one that would have probably worked, hours ago. Neither of you would listen when he tried to share it or convince you to work with him. Sasuke, you thought you could do it all on your own and ignored the other two. Sakura, you were focused solely on Sasuke and ignored everything else around you. Eventually, Naruto had to give up on trying to get you to listen and decided to give you what back-up he could provide, whether you liked it or not." He looked at them and saw that Sasuke was the only one of the two who might look like he was starting to understand.

He nodded as if making a decision. "Alright, you will have one more shot. Sasuke, Naruto, here is your lunch. Don't feed Sakura, I'll be right back." As soon as he mentioned their lunch, both Sasuke and Sakura's stomachs growled, loudly. But not Naruto's.

They both looked at him, scandalized. Naruto only blinked at them. "He only _suggested _that we not eat breakfast, it wasn't an order. Skipping breakfast the day of a survival exercise is stupid, anyway." Naruto waved off. "Besides, don't you keep food on you for if you get hungry?" He kept granola bars, peanuts, dried fruit, jerky, and trail mix in his storage seals for just that occasion.

He'd even painted a seal on Choji's wrist so he could have an easier time of keeping his snacks on hand or held in reserve. (He made his own trail mix, and shared it with Choji, even. It had to be healthier than potato chips, and should still build plenty of protein and such for Choji to properly use with his families techniques.)

"Breakfast?" Sakura muttered to herself, looking away. "I didn't even have dinner." She muttered something else to herself about a diet, concerning Kakashi, who made a mental note to speak with her about it, or...

Without another word, he handed over the two bento's he and Naruto had bought that morning and disappeared only to reappear beside Gai. "Would you mind trying to mentor her?" He asked Tenten. "That's the only chance I'm giving her before I let Anko Mitarashi have at it." He had no doubt Naruto would share his food, and wasn't too concerned about it. Hopefully they would still be able to stick together when he 'confronted' them about it.

Tenten looked unsure, but she also knew Anko's reputation and was honored that he would ask her in the first place. "I'll do what I can." She promised, knowing that _she _could only do so much to get through to the hopeless fangirl, Sakura would have to listen and take what she said to heart. Kakashi nodded, and quickly shared that the girl was currently on a stupid diet, which she made a disgusted face about.

"I am surprised that you are giving them a second chance, my friend." Gai said, eyeing him. He never gave his potential teams a second chance.

He grunted. "Uchiha." And Gai understood. Yes, the Civilian Council had quite the interest in that boy. Too much of an interest. Their ideas about their own power were getting bigger and bigger as well. He wished Lord Hokage would hurry up and put them back in their places already.

"Yup. Now for the fun part." Kakashi gave an evil chuckle when he looked down and saw Sasuke and Naruto taking turns to feed Sakura from their lunches. The three genin looked up in shock when thunderclouds and lightning loomed over them all threateningly, just as Kakashi appeared out of smoke and glared. "YOU! What do you think you are doing? Did I not give explicit orders?" He demanded.

Sakura squeaked in fear, Sasuke eyed him warily, and even Naruto looked a little nervous about this.

"If we hadn't, she would've been too weak to keep up, she would have only gotten in the way or gotten hurt." Naruto was the only one brave enough to say anything, despite his nervousness at his brothers expression.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in agreement. _Of course._

"Er, yeah! That's right!" Sakura was following the boys lead, and hoped it would work. Hopefully the Jonin wouldn't kill them all for their audacity. "We all need to keep up our energy, so we can fight effectively!"

"Says the girl on a diet." Pakkun muttered to Aika as the two dogs trotted up to the humans. Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled out the scroll with her food in it. She yipped in agreement, making both Kakashi and Naruto hide amused smiles at what she'd said.

"Is that what you're sticking with?" Kakashi demanded to know.

"Yes, we're a team!" Naruto said firmly, even though he didn't quite believe what he himself was saying.

"Is that so?" Kakashi leaned in threateningly. "In that case, you..." The thunder and lightning suddenly disappeared out of nowhere and Kakashi's visible eye curled up into a 'U' shape. "Pass." He said calmly.

"Huh?" Sakura asked after a moment while the same question was written all over Sasuke's face.

"You. Pass." He said again. "A team has to look out for each other. They are only as strong as the weakest member, in the end." And it was true, a weak team member would slow the others down and divert their attention because they had to look out for them specifically. They became the liability to the rest of the team very quickly and easily.

"'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.'" He quoted, and moved towards the nearby Stone. "Do you two know what this is?" He asked.

Sakura shook her head in denial, while Sasuke's bland and neutral expression took on a somber air. "This is the Memorial Stone, all the names written on here have one thing in common. They were all KIA."

Sakura looked shocked. Well, at least she knew what _that _meant. Maybe she wasn't completely hopeless, then. "Many good shinobi are on this Stone, some of them because their comrades weren't there when they needed them." He stared at the Stone somberly, easily picking out Rin, Obito, and Minato-sensei's names. A smaller hand reached out and traced Kushina's name and he glanced down to see Naruto had joined him and was kneeling on the ground beside him.

Kakashi looked at them and smiled genuinely. "Alright, we'll start missions tomorrow. For today, we'll stay here so I can get more of an idea of what you can do." He dropped to sit on the ground while Naruto sliced through the ropes holding Sakura in place and handed her his bento before pulling out another one from a scroll while Kakashi pulled out his own.

"We'll go through our strengths and weaknesses, we can talk while we eat. " He turned and motioned for Gai and his team to join them. "This is Team 9, led by Might Gai, the villages top Taijutsu expert. You will probably see them around a lot." He deadpanned to his team and glared at Naruto when the blonde snickered into his hand and Pakkun barked his own amusement.

Tenten and Neji didn't bother hiding their own amusement.

"Anyway, they graduated the Academy last year, so feel free to ask them for advice if you need to, I don't think they would mind sharing some of their experience. Sakura, Tenten has agreed to mentor you, as I don't really know all that much about girls in general, let alone Kuniochi." That, and if he tried to correct her behavior, he might wind up traumatizing her for life. He would give her a chance first before he went that far...

Tenten waved cheerfully while Sakura blinked at her. She didn't think she needed a _mentor _or anything like that, she was top of her class! But this girl had a year of experience on her, outside of the Academy. She might have advice or something on how to stay beautiful on missions.

"Good To Meet You!" Gai boomed, letting his usual exuberance show now that the test was over. "These are my other Youthful Students, Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee!" He introduced the others since Kakashi already sort of introduced Tenten.

Sasuke and Sakura weren't quite sure what to make of him, Sakura in particular was eyeing his outfit and hair-style (including his eyebrows), but didn't say anything while Naruto greeted the older genin like friends, although after all this time Neji was mostly just indifferent to him. They used to fight constantly, but Kakashi got tired of it and forced them to 'agree to disagree' for now.

"Anyway. Sasuke, you first. Strengths and weaknesses. Go." He ordered after everyone had food and was eating.

"Hn. I'm good at Taijutsu and fire jutsu. I'm alright with Genjutsu, and my weapons skills are good, as well." He didn't think he had weaknesses, and if he did, he wasn't going to admit it out loud, certainly not to a bunch of strangers, and most _certainly _not to one of his fangirls. Kakashi hummed and gestured for Sakura to speak after a moment of waiting for Sasuke to say anything else.

"Um, I'm good at the Academy Nin- and Taijutsu, and my Chakra Control is excellent." Sakura was quite proud of herself for all that. She wasn't going to admit any weaknesses, either, not in front of Sasuke! Once again, everyone waited for her to continue before Kakashi nodded for Naruto to speak.

He hummed while he took his time to finish chewing, and used the time to consider. "My Taijutsu is pretty solid, but I'm still working out kinks in the new style." Gai nodded his agreement. For somebody who started learning a year ago, and had bad habits to get rid of on top of that, his Taijutsu was actually coming along fairly well. "I'm also good at any Ninjutsu above a C-rank, anything lower leveled gets questionable, I have too much Chakra for them and not enough control. I know some first aid and a few medical jutsu that don't require good control. I can break out of Genjutsu, but I have trouble recognizing them in the first place. I am a trap-making specialist and I'm currently working through the Intermediate levels in Fuinjutsu." He nodded and tilted his head to think if he missed anything. "Oh, and I'm good with weapons." Tenten nodded her agreement with that, he was a natural with weapons. Unlike the other two, he had no problem admitting where he had trouble.

Kakashi hummed. "Gai? Your expert opinion on their physical abilities?" He might have seen something from his vantage point in the trees that Kakashi himself missed.

"Naruto's assessment of his Taijutsu sounds accurate enough. Although, you were leaving your left side open again, watch that." He warned the boy, who grimaced and nodded his agreement. "Sakura didn't fight during the test, so I didn't see anything to really tell you one way or another, however..." He frowned as he studied Sakura's physique, making her flush red and want to punch him for creeping on her. "She has no muscle mass or fat on her body. I can safely say that her Taijutsu will be weak and she won't last long in a fight, as she will have no stamina or energy reserves to draw on. That could also affect her Chakra reserves, but I will leave you to judge that. That's your area of expertise." He nodded to Kakashi and turned his attention to Sasuke. Sakura bristled at his (in her opinion) unfair comments.

"Physically, Sasuke was fairly solid. It was clear, however, that he has no sparring partner or anyone else to tell him when he makes a mistake in his form, and as a result his form is somewhat sloppy and leaves unnecessary holes in his defenses. The Interceptor Fist also requires the use of the Sharingan to make it truly effective, until he develops that he will not be able to fight to his full potential. He could use some more muscle and fat on him to add some power and stamina, but he is fairly solid otherwise." Gai said, "The fight did not last long, and he was out of breath, so his stamina could use some work as well." Sasuke shot him a dirty look and Kakashi moved them along before Sakura could yell at the Taijutsu master for his critique of her crush.

"Proper food and a good workout schedule, then, should begin fixing most of that." He would have to hold off on teaching much technique until they could actually do some damage with it, or at least last in a fight. That assessment sounded about right to him, though. "We will have to properly test your Ninjutsu and weapons abilities later. For now, one-on-one spars with me so I can gauge your Taijutsu abilities more accurately." As soon as he stood up, Naruto made five Shadow Clones that quickly disappeared into the surrounding trees.

When Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him, he merely said, "Traps." Kakashi and Team 9 nodded in understanding.

"Sakura, you first." Kakashi called while he walked away from everybody else sitting there.

"Watch, and afterward I want a detailed analysis of everything she did, didn't do, could have done better, and so on." Gai instructed his students. He often did this, as it was good for a fighter to be able to gauge his opponents skill during a battle, and search for tells or openings. Often, he would bring in a random Chunin (willingly or not) and have them spar against them before asking for a detailed report on what they noticed during the fight. Kakashi threw Gai a dirty look for using his new Genin for training purposes like this.

During the spar, he let her get a few hits, and had to agree completely with Gai, she had no strength at all to her punches, she might as well have been tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. He shook his head when, five minutes into the spar, she was on the ground, heaving for air in exhaustion. He hummed. "Textbook perfect, but you don't leave any room for improvisation. Your movements are also choppy, they do not flow, which also leaves openings in your defense, and you hesitate before striking out or landing a blow. We will have to work on that." He motioned for one of Naruto's returning clones to help her back to the others while he called Sasuke over.

This fight went much like the one during the test. Sasuke displayed a great deal of natural flexibility and that he could, indeed, improvise when needed. His movements flowed with some hitches, and he rarely hesitated. His reflexes were very good, and his reaction timing was spot on. He needed to work on his speed and predictability, though, and on not showing any tells before striking. Also, he needed to figure out something else until he got his Sharingan. Gai was correct, the Interceptor Fist could not be properly and efficiently used without the Sharingan to boost reaction time through its predictive 'ability'. The spar continued until Sasuke couldn't, which was half an hour. Kakashi, on the other hand, felt that Sasuke should have admitted 'defeat' long before then, he was obviously struggling after fifteen to twenty minutes into it, to the point of it being dangerous.

He let it continue, though, because it was also a good insight into how Sasuke thought.

When he finally called it, he frowned and glanced at Gai, to see him frowning at the boy as well. They had an entire silent conversation in the time it took Sasuke to move to the sidelines and for Naruto to amble over to take his spot, stretching his arms out as he went and jumping on the balls of his feet in anticipation. While Gai and Kakashi could both admire the stubbornness to not give up, the boy still needed to know when enough was enough, and when to keep going became counter-productive.

Putting it out of his mind, he turned his attention to the upcoming spar with the stamina monster known as Naruto Uzumaki. Not to say the fight would be hard, not at all. No, no matter Naruto's training in the past year, he was still just a rookie Genin while Kakashi was a Jonin. His training over the past year was mostly to correct mistakes caused by the bad teaching Naruto got in the Academy, plus maybe a few extra jutsu here and there (like the Shunshin). No, the hard part when fighting Naruto came from his levels of stamina, and experience in outrunning Chunin and ANBU on a semi-regular basis.

He was very good at evasion tactics, he could literally run circles around his opponent all day without breaking a sweat if he wanted to. All that combined with some proper Taijutsu training... it made him very difficult to catch in a fight, even for a shinobi like Kakashi.

However, as previously stated. At the end of the day, he was still a new Genin (albeit at a high-Genin level), while Kakashi was an Elite Jonin with decades of experience.

"Very good, Naruto. You still forgot your left, though." Kakashi said nearly an hour later, when he had finally managed to pin Naruto down and end the spar. Kakashi had actually managed to work Naruto into a sweat, and Kakashi himself was sweating and breathing hard from his own efforts. Naruto gave him a thumbs up and a wide grin before scurrying back to sit down with his teammates, where Tenten threw him a water bottle. Where did that kid get his energy from? Honestly.

Before he sat down, he had a sudden thought. "Hey, Kakashi? Weren't you supposed to report in whether we'd passed or not at 1?" He asked his brother. As one, everyone looked at the alarm clock, and Gai sighed when he saw that it was 3:00.

"You had best get going, Friend, before the Hokage makes good on his threat last week." He warned, causing Kakashi to wince while Naruto tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his grin.

A week ago, the potential Jonin-sensei for the new graduates were called into the Hokage's office to receive the lists of those who were most likely to graduate, and a tentative team roster based on that. (Of course, they acknowledged that there might be a few surprises with the list). This way, they could spend the week watching their potential students, getting to know some of their habits, and such. Kakashi had, of course, shown up three hours late, to the Hokage's annoyance. He had thought that the Jonin was done with being late to meetings and non-life or death situations (Kakashi had been helping Naruto with the Shunshin, and honestly lost track of time... this time).

So, the Hokage threatened to assign his team the Tora mission... over, and over, and over again. With the full knowledge that Kakashi and Tora had a... bit of a history together. That was in addition to threatening to place a gag order banning him from book stores that sold his precious books, (again, that was actually up for debate).

"Ah, right... I best go, we will meet back here again tomorrow at eight AM, be here early and start going through warm-up exercises." He instructed before disappearing in a quick flurry of leaves and smoke.

Gai shook his head. "Alright, my Youthful Students! Back to our Training Grounds!" Gai cried with his usual exuberance, shocking Sakura and Sasuke. He'd been acting pretty normal so far, where did this come from?

"See ya later, guys." Naruto waved them off, Tenten and Lee were the only ones to respond to him, Neji merely turned and left.

"I'll catch up with you later, Sakura, ok? I'll find you, don't worry." Tenten said with a small smirk. Sakura nodded and said good-bye, deciding that she was too tired to question it. Sasuke didn't say anything, still fuming over what Gai had said about his Taijutsu, and how Naruto and Kakashi had fought.

Once Team 9 was gone, Naruto looked at his new teammates and sighed. "So... anyone want to go get food? As a team?" He asked. He was going to put in the effort, even if they didn't.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and left without another word. Sakura sneered at Naruto and trailed after Sasuke like a lost puppy.

Naruto scowled and left the training grounds himself, intent on getting back to the book he'd started the night before. Kakashi had finally proclaimed him good to continue with the next level of Fuinjutsu, although the Jonin had also warned that he wouldn't be much help past this new level. He'd never shown much interest in Fuinjutsu when he was younger, beyond that his sensei and sensei's girlfriend were both experts in it. As such, he'd learned it, but he didn't really take it far enough to be considered a Seal-master, he only completed the higher intermediate levels before Minato and Kushina died.

He would draw up those security seals, too, and put them in place tonight.

* * *

When Kakashi appeared in the middle of the Hokage's office, forgoing the usual politeness (self-preservation tactic) of using the door or window in his haste, he was met with the dry stare of the Hokage, and the pointy ends of the Jonin's weapons. Mentally, he sweat-dropped.

"Yo." He said, holding up a hand and trying to appear nonchalant, hoping the Hokage wouldn't make good on his threat.

"You're late." The Hokage stated, puffing on his pipe and fixing him with a flat stare that made everyone in the room grateful that they weren't Kakashi.

Inwardly, Kakashi flinched. "Sorry about that." He caught himself before he raised his hand to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, he'd clearly started picking up on Naruto's habits. "I was training my Genin." He said truthfully. "Well, evaluating their current skill so I know what to focus on." He amended with a shrug.

Iruka frowned suspiciously. "Does that mean...?" He led, hoping that it meant Naruto was finally a full Shinobi.

"Yes, they passed." He said cheerfully. 'Barely'. He thought to himself. The Hokage merely hummed, and kept up his flat stare while the other Jonin finally moved to put their weapons away, feeling that they'd made their point now.

"Alright." Hiruzen finally turned his attention away from his most skilled, and (to borrow a phrase) _troublesome _Jonin. "That makes Teams 7, 8, and 10 passing, with 1-4 going back to the Academy for another try, and 5 and 6 being dropped from the program entirely." He frowned at the results. "How was it that Naruto managed to keep the Deadlast spot if those two teams were so hopeless?" He muttered to himself.

Kakashi coughed into his fist. "He... stayed the Deadlast on purpose. He had the usual Team 7 figuration worked out, and knew that I would be in charge, and figured that putting himself on my team would be the only way he was actually passed and not failed just because." At least the other Jonin had the good sense to shift their weight, whether in guilt or nerves was yet to be determined. "Also, I feel that Mizuki may have been fixing the grades... I'm sure Inoichi and Asuma are having fun learning how he managed to get past the increased ANBU presence at the Academy or the interrogations last year, but what I saw from Sakura today and what her file says... they do not match."

Iruka frowned, thinking back. "What did her file say? Because she was very smart academically, but she struggled with the actual Shinobi lessons and physical exercises." Hmm, now that he thought about it, how _had _she gotten the Top Kunoichi spot?

"Academically smart, excellent Chakra control, it listed her as top of the class in Genjutsu, good at Taijutsu, excellent stamina, adaptable, works well in a team setting, good at following orders, all good things, and all that one would expect from the Top Kuniochi of her year." Kakashi turned to the Academy Chunin. "However, her Taijutsu is weak, she has no muscle or stamina, she does not deviate from the Academy katas... _at all. _It is textbook perfect, but she will not adapt. I trapped her in a low grade Genjutsu, and she fainted after a minute. I haven't evaluated them in Ninjutsu yet, but I can already sense that her Chakra reserves are almost non-existent, she will not work with the team, instead preferring to chase after Sasuke like a lost puppy, she has a 'damsel in distress' mentality, and she's screechy. Naruto and I asked her several times to lower her volume, she ignores him completely, and disregards what I say as soon as she opens her mouth again. Honestly, I don't know how that Inuzuka kid and Naruto managed to share a classroom with her for so long." He muttered at the end.

Iruka coughed into his hand at that last bit. "Ah, I provided them with high grade earplugs for use in class." Iruka pulled one out of his pocket. "There are seals in it, all you have to do is channel Chakra into it and you can't hear a thing. Stop channeling Chakra and it's like its not even there. I made it clear, though, that if I caught them abusing it, they would be taken away and they would be left to suffer the consequences. Naruto should still have his pair." He tossed them to Kakashi, who studied them with interest.

"Consequences?" One of the Jonin asked in amusement.

"Naruto and Kiba both have highly sensitive hearing, and they shared a classroom with a crowd of girls... and Sasuke _Uchiha_." Some of the Jonin shuddered just remembering the crowds of girls that would follow an Uchiha or Hyuga's every move. "So, yes. Consequences of ruptured ear drums every day. The girls tended to start screeching or yelling at every perceived slight against _their _Sasuke, or every time he did something _cool_. I tried to break them of this habit, but..." He shrugged helplessly. He was only one Chunin who only saw them so much in one day, and during that day he had other topics to focus on. After leaving his classroom, they went home to their parents, who undid any progress he _might _have made. "The only girl who didn't go crazy over the boy was Hinata. She was actually focused on her training."

"Hmm," Hiruzen hummed, examining the earplug that Kakashi handed him. "Where did you get these?" He asked.

Iruka flushed a bit. "I studied what Fuinjutsu I could, with those in mind. I got tired of seeing two of my students flinch in pain every time Sasuke did something that impressed his fanclub." The Jonin looked at him in interest, now.

"Hmm. Impressive. Would you mind making them available to the Inuzuka clan? I'm sure they would appreciate the ability to be able to effectively block out sounds sometimes." The Hokage asked, watching as Kakashi put it in his ears to test it out. Judging by the look on his face, it was quite effective. "Perhaps provide a few to the Yamanaka clan, they may want to be able to pass them out to some of the more... on the edge Shinobi to help them at least sleep or something..."

"Umm, sure. I field tested them, and they would hold up to flash-bangs and the like. As long as your concentration doesn't waver enough that you stop channeling Chakra, anyway."

The Village Leader nodded in satisfaction. "And I want you to continue your studies in Fuinjutsu. You clearly have a talent for it." Iruka flushed a brighter red. "Now, back to the discussion." The Jonin straightened up at the reminder of what they were talking about. "Did the rest of you notice similar discrepancies with your students, anything else that didn't quite add up with their files?" The other Jonin thought back and slowly shook their heads. "Alright, well, Sakura Haruno's mother is on the Civilian Council, she might have made a few... donations." He muttered, and made a mental note to look into it. "At any rate, class rankings do not matter outside the Academy walls."

"Was there anything else?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes... Sakura mentioned being on a diet earlier. She didn't even have dinner last night, even though I _suggested _that they not eat breakfast... also, she was wearing enough perfume and other artificial scents to clog the nose of every ninja from here to Iwa." Jaws dropped, and everyone glanced at Iruka, who was just as shocked.

"I held a parent meeting with all the Civilian parents, every year at the start of term. I sit down with all of them and go over expectations for the year, so they know what is going on with their child. I remind them what a Shinobi needs to be eating, how much, and recommendations of how they can accomplish this if they have a low budget and can't afford a lot of groceries. I make sure they know where to go to buy proper equipment for their child, which includes scentless soaps and shampoos, the parents know better than to let their daughters do something so stupid as _diet, _or wear anything with heavy scents." He sounded disgusted at the very word 'diet'.

"Just the Civilian parents?" Asuma asked.

Iruka blinked at him. "Well, yes. The Shinobi parents would already know this information, since they themselves are Shinobi, especially those from a clan."

"Maybe you should include the Shinobi parents as a reminder at the next meeting. Ino was wearing perfume, although it was light, and she was on a diet, too." Asuma told his father, incredulous. _Now _jaws really dropped. Ino _Yamanaka _was on a diet? And wearing perfume? Surely Inoichi would know better?

"That, son, you would need to take up with Inoichi, I'm afraid." Hiruzen longed for his bed right then.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Seeing as I know nothing of girls or Kuniochi, I asked Gai's Kuniochi if she wouldn't mind mentoring mine. It was either her, or I give Sakura to Anko." He shrugged at the questioning looks. "Perhaps an established Kuniochi her age could...?" He suggested to Asuma.

"I'll talk to Inoichi first, but I'll think about it. Although... that is actually a good idea to implement for all the rookie Genin. Give them somebody else closer to their own age they can go to for advice..." Asuma glanced at his father, who nodded his agreement.

"If there is nothing else, then this meeting is over. You three," He pointed at the three rookie sensei, "Train your students well." He said simply.

Kakashi saluted and left, through the window this time.

* * *

"Hey, Naruto, I thought I'd find you here. They reject your offer of a team dinner?" Kakashi already knew the answer, but he asked anyway and then sat down at the table with his little brother, watching him draw out a complex security seal with a hint of concentration on his face.

"Yeah... they accepted it about as nicely as I thought they would." Naruto grimaced. Kakashi growled minutely, then changed the subject.

"Those the seals for Sasuke's apartment?"

"Uh-huh. I'll wait until it's almost dark before I head over. That way, all his fangirls should be in bed, or at least with their families for the evening. I don't feel like drawing their attention on me, even if I'm more than able of avoiding them." They both made a face.

"I stopped by there before coming here, he's already having to replace his door again." Naruto looked up with disgust written all over his face. Honestly, whoever thought to 'let slip' that Sasuke, as the 'last' Uchiha was eligible for the CRA program (even though that program was completely voluntary), really needed to be thrown into T&I's waiting hands. Every girl in the village had gone crazy ever since then, trying to force themselves into Sasuke's bed. Sometimes, they would try to break into his apartment and wait on his bed for him to come home. There were... quite a few arrests made under charges of breaking and entering, trespassing, sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault on a minor, etc. in the beginning before the Hokage ordered better locks, a sturdier door, and a more routine patrol past Sasuke's apartment. Unfortunately, while he was in the Academy and an orphan, he was considered a Civilian (despite his previous clan status). So there was nothing more that could be done unless he petitioned the Hokage directly for a 24/7 guard.

Which he didn't, stupid idiot that he was.

So, Sasuke would often go home to find his front door covered in scratches and what looked like claw marks. However, now that he was out of the Academy and officially a Genin, he could legally put security Fuinjutsu around his apartment, and there was nothing anybody could say about it. So, Naruto was supplying those security seals. It only made sense that he would try to look out for one of his teammates, even if that teammate couldn't be bothered to give him the time of day. He already knew that Kakashi had plans of withholding any significant Ninjutsu until he was sure 'friendly' fire incidents wouldn't be happening. Or at least, not happening on purpose.

Not that he was just going to sit around, doing nothing but D-ranks, and teamwork exercises, that would be so stupid! (In another reality, Kakashi sneezed and happily went back to reading his book while his Genin suffered through their fifth D-rank of the day, they would go do a team-bonding exercise after this one... maybe). No, he would still teach them, but he would keep the more deadly and powerful techniques to himself until he was sure they (Sasuke and Sakura) wouldn't be using it against a teammate (Naruto). It wouldn't do for him to have to explain why he killed two of his Genin, after all. The Hokage might not be too pleased with him, either.

No, the real stuff would be held hostage until they learned to get along, or at least see Naruto (and each other to an extent) for what he was. Their teammate and fellow Genin of Konoha.

As he drew seals, Kakashi would study them for mistakes, and found none, which Naruto was very pleased with. Of course, he also knew that he was probably going to be replacing these within the next few years, as he learned more about Fuinjutsu and made it even further in the art. But, for now, these were more than powerful enough for protecting the home of a fellow Genin who's biggest problem, currently, was keeping rabid girls away. "And... done." Naruto said, finishing the last seal with a flourish.

Kakashi glanced it over and nodded in approval. "Don't forget, Iruka offered to take you out for Ichiraku tonight to celebrate your graduation." He reminded, and Naruto glanced at the time.

"I better go, then. You sure you don't want to come?" He asked, getting up and grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair.

"I'm sure. I have some work to do in ANBU headquarters tonight, so I'll probably be out late. I'll send Bull with a message if I get called out, and if I'm not back in time for meeting your team in the morning, I'll see about sending a message to somebody to take over until I return. I'll see about making arrangements this week with Gai, so that if I do end up getting held up with a mission, you guys can just go with him for the day." Kakashi said, and Naruto made a face, but didn't say anything else.

"Alright, be careful." He called as he went out the door to meet Iruka.

* * *

Later that night, Sasuke was annoyed by a persistent knocking on his door. His first thought was to ignore it and stay by the window, just in case, where he could manage an escape or flag down a passing patrol. He could deal with an intruder himself, of course, now that he was no longer considered a civilian, but he also didn't want to touch any of his fangirls if he could help it, _at all. _Not even the small amount of touching required for knocking them out and getting them out of his apartment.

It was rare for any ANBU or Jonin to knock on the door. If they wanted him, they usually came to find him somewhere, or knocked on the window. Anybody knocking who wasn't a girl from the village usually announced themselves somehow. Like the delivery guy for the grocery store Sasuke preferred (their tomato selection was the most consistent quality-wise, and had the most variety. The other stores only had typical Roma, and nothing else. Other stores also stocked them while they were still _green_. What was up with that?)

Eventually, he made up his mind that if that person didn't go away _right now_, they were getting a Great Fireball Jutsu to the face. At point blank range. They called out before he could reach the door, though. "Hey! Sasuke, open up! Come on!" Naruto? What was he doing here?

He wiped the confusion off his face before opening the door and scowling at his visitor. "What do you want?" He asked, reminding himself to use words and not just 'hn' at him. As he'd constantly been reminded since his clan was killed, not everybody spoke 'Uchiha'.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and huffed. "Rude." He muttered, then held up a bunch of papers, covered in what Sasuke vaguely recognized as Fuinjutsu symbols, but these looked nothing like the paper bombs or storage seals they were taught to use in the Academy. "Do you want these security seals? They're not the strongest ones ever, but they're what I can make at my current level. But, they will certainly keep Chunin and lower, probably even a few Jonin out. They will _definitely _keep unwanted fangirls out. Well, as long as the fangirls not a Jonin or ANBU, but they should know better..." Naruto explained.

Sasuke blinked and reached out to take the bundle of papers, examining the top ones carefully. "Why?" He asked slowly. He had been thinking about finding somebody who could apply good security seals on his apartment (now that he was allowed to do something like that), but he'd also not known who to go to, and he'd been prepared to pay most of his inheritance for it.

Naruto huffed and made a disgusted face. "Did you not see how Sakura was acting with you for the last two days? I didn't think it was possible for her to get worse, but she did! Personally, I was hoping for Hinata on our team, but... And, Kakashi-nii told me that you had to replace your door again when you got back from the test this morning. He stopped by your apartment to check in after reporting to the old man." Naruto shrugged. "Anyway, we're a team now, so we gotta watch out for each other."

Sasuke looked down at the bundle. Naruto had made these just for him... he'd even admitted that they weren't as strong as they could be... yet. But, still. "How do I set these up?" He asked after a moment of thought.

Naruto grinned and pulled out a brush and ink pot, which he set on the table beside the door for later. He then took the bundle back and started separating them out. "Ok, these ones will go over the windows and doors. These two, will be the... I suppose you could call it the lock, you'll want to put it beside the door in the hallway and inside, and remember where it is." He placed the two stacks on the table and set the one he singled out beside them. "These will go in the corners of the apartment, and _this _one is the Master Seal. It will go in the centerpoint of the apartment, and I'll need to draw additional seals around it, too. Before I do that, you will need to pump Chakra into the ink, to key the array into your Chakra signature. Now, I'll slap these where they need to go, and then apply the Master, then you can activate them." He nodded in satisfaction.

Sasuke followed him as he set the seals up. One went on the outside of the window, while one was slapped on the inside. Naruto said that the double-seal wasn't really necessary, just slapping one on the inside would have done the trick well enough, but it added a double layer of security and helped minimize damage to the building itself. On the corners, one went up high towards the ceiling, while he placed another on the other wall towards the floor. Again, not really necessary, but Naruto was of the opinion that it helped spread out the coverage and lessened the chance of leaving gaps. The 'lock' was placed beside the door-frame, about chest high. Then Naruto waited while Sasuke figured out the exact center of the apartment, something he'd never really thought of before. After the Master was slapped down on the spot, the ink pot was wordlessly held out and Sasuke poured Chakra into it until Naruto said to stop, and then he started drawing yet more intricate seals on the floor around it.

"Where did you learn this?" Sasuke finally asked, curious.

"Fuinjutsu is an Uzumaki Clan art. It's what we were so feared for, to the point where three villages almost decimated their own forces just to destroy us. They didn't succeed, not entirely... I know there are others out there who survived like my mom did, and I have plans to gather them again, but for now... I guess they will just have to stay scattered." Naruto answered absently, focused on the seal.

"Uzumaki Clan? I didn't know you had a clan." Sasuke was confused.

"Uh-huh. We had our own Village and everything. But, like I said, we were scattered years ago, towards the end of the Second Shinobi War. Actually, the attack that destroyed my clans home, is kind of what ended the war, if you really think about it. Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, and a handful of smaller villages launched an attack with over 80,000 Shinobi against the forces of Uzukagura, the village my clan ruled over. 80,000 against roughly 10,000 may not seem like much of a fight, but... after a five day long siege, only 5,000 of the attacking forces walked away." Sasuke's jaw was on the floor. Naruto smiled sadly. "So, yeah, like I said. That's kind of the event that ended the war, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri didn't have any significant fighting force to keep the war going anymore. They were all destroyed attacking one clan."

"How did your mother survive the attack?" Sasuke asked, unable to believe what he'd heard.

"My mother had moved to Konoha for... reasons a few months before the attack, but her and my father led the team that was sent to back-up Uzu's forces. They were delayed, of course, by forces from Iwa, so they got there too late, but they were able to chase off those who stayed behind to steal my clans secrets, and salvaged what they could. Helped survivors, found out where some of the evacuated civilians were sent to and brought them to Konoha. In fact..." Naruto thought back to what he'd read in his mothers journal. She'd written out the family names of those they managed to rescue. "I think Iruka-sensei's parents were some of the few surviving Uzu Shinobi. And, obviously Iruka-sensei himself survived, but he would have been a little kid then. But, mom estimated that roughly two hundred clansmen and village shinobi were unaccounted for, going by the bodies they found scattered throughout the village, and mission records they found, immigration records, last census count, etc."

"Why did we not learn about this in class?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto's expression turned stony for a moment. "After the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago, when the Fourth died, there was a power vacuum until the old man took the Hat again. The Civilian Council took full advantage of it. They passed all kinds of emergency decrees and laws giving them power that they should not have. Even now, the old man is still trying to reverse what they did. But, one of the things they did, was take over the Academy curriculum. That's why we spend so much time in the classroom, doing theory work, instead of outside doing practicals. That's why the Ninjutsu test is three of the most basic ninjutsu out there. The Civilians have never even touched a Kunai, and yet they wrote the curriculum training us for Shinobi life. As for why the Uzumaki clan is not part of it... I don't know that bit. But, you can bet that I will be changing that when I'm old enough to sit in my clans seat on the council."

"Seat on the council? But, I thought you said..." Now Sasuke was really confused.

"I did. The Uzumaki and Senju also happened to be sister clans. We intermarried all the time. Something else that's left out of the history books, is that it was not the Uchiha and Senju that built Konoha. It was the Uchiha, Senju, and _Uzumaki _that built Konoha. In fact, going off the records I have that mom salvaged, Konoha was designed off of what the Uzumaki already had in place. See, Uzu existed long before Konoha was ever a dream. So, a seat on the council was always kept open for any Uzumaki representative in the village to sit in at any time. Before, it was Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the first Hokage, and then my mom sat in it when Mito passed away and she was old enough. You know that red spiral on the back of Chunin and Jonin flak-vests?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Sasuke blinked at the sudden change in topic. "Yes..."

Naruto pointed at the spiral on the back of his own shirt, the exact same one. "That spiral is the Uzumaki clan symbol. Konoha shinobi wear it to honor their Uzumaki comrades, it was a sign of our alliance with Uzu, after its destruction it became a way of honoring what Konoha lost." Naruto grinned and stood up. "And, done! Now, all that's left is for you to activate it. You know... I'm surprised you haven't asked just what it is these seals will do to intruders." Naruto sounded vaguely amused.

"Hn." _What does it do_? Oops, he forgot to use his words.

Naruto merely grinned. "Well, for starters, no more having to replace that door. Anyone who damages it, will find themselves getting a nasty shock. The really persistent ones will either be going to the hospital unconscious, or with severe electrical-type burns. Same with the rest of the matrix around the entire apartment. Also, if the seals are set off, an alarm will sound in ANBU headquarters, in the office of whoever is responsible for internal village patrols and the kind of stuff the Uchiha Police Force used to handle." He gave an apologetic grimace at that. "It's something new they've come up with, although it's only for VIP persons, which you, as the last loyal Uchiha, certainly qualify as. The same thing is set up for mine and Kakashi's apartment, along with the Hokage's mansion and a few other residences around the village." He shrugged.

(Although, the seals around his and Kakashi's apartment were significantly more complex and powerful than the ones he just set up for Sasuke, not surprising considering Naruto's father drew them when Kakashi first moved in there, months before the Kyuubi attack.)

After a few moments, he shook himself out of his thoughts and told Sasuke how to activate it, and then explained how to 'arm' and 'disarm' the arrays as he came or went. Naturally, this would be accomplished with the 'lock'. It was very simple, merely channel Chakra into it when he left home, and before he went to bed at least. If he wanted to leave it armed all the time even when he was home, then he could do that, too. To disarm, again, simply channel Chakra into the seals when he came home. Since it was keyed into his signature, it would only arm or disarm with his Chakra. And, of course, don't forget to physically lock the door.

"There!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he watched the seals activate, the paper used to write the seals on fluttered to the floor as the ink itself vanished into the walls now that they activated. Looking around, he could sense that everything was working as it should, and he couldn't 'see' any gaps in the defenses. "In about a year, I'll come by again to check that everything is still working properly, and I should have some upgrades to make by then, too. I'll see you tomorrow, then? Oh, and, I will make sure Kakashi is on time. Believe me, he used to be much worse." With that, Naruto disappeared out the door, leaving Sasuke to lock the door and happily arm the new seals before getting a snack and going to bed.

Kakashi-sensei had warned them to be waiting and having had already done their morning exercises by the time he got there at 8, and then he'd promised them a mission already.

He just hoped it wasn't going to be the Tora mission right off the bat... he'd heard enough about that cat from the Uchiha Genin when he was younger, he was hoping he could somehow manage to avoid it. Hey, Naruto and Kakashi referred to each other as brothers, and it was no secret that the Hokage was very fond of Naruto, maybe...


	6. Not Leaving him Behind

Iruka had just sat down and breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the last student left his classroom. That day had been... particularly bad.

For one, he had yet to be assigned a new assistant after everything that happened with Mizuki. Even though that was _weeks _ago...

For another, today was the day the new group of students in his room started learning how to use weapons. Oh, not real ones, of course, they were six and they just started learning basic safety with them today, they would start with blunted weapons in a couple of months. Until then, they were using wooden Kunai and Shuriken.

And, of course, being immature little brats that they all were, they wouldn't stop hitting each other with their new 'toys'... speaking of, he should stop by the hospital on his way home to check on his newest Aburame student... one of his neighbors had gotten a little enthusiastic with his wooden Kunai, and Iruka really hoped that the medics were able to save his eye.

And that, of course, was the source of his current exhaustion. After the incident, he'd had to spend the rest of the class time calming the sheltered children down after their first sight of blood and injury. Not exactly something he wanted them exposed to so early in their lives... he wouldn't be surprised if a few of his civilian students weren't pulled from the program overnight.

When the door to his classroom opened, he barely suppressed a growl of annoyance at what was undoubtedly a parent, enraged that their darling witnessed such a thing as what happened earlier that day.

Looking over, though, he was surprised to find Kakashi Hatake standing in the doorway, looking... well, Iruka couldn't really say how he looked. The fact that his face was mostly covered up made that rather difficult, and he was standing in the relaxed slouch/ready position that all Elite seemed capable of, it was a slouch that made it rather difficult to read their body language.

"Hatake, is there something I can do for you?" He finally asked after several moments of the Jonin not saying anything.

The one visible eyebrow furrowed slightly. "Hmm. I was wondering if you could tell me about Naruto's time at the Academy. His file seems to be very... incomplete." His displeasure in that was clear in his voice. Understandable, really, incomplete or bad intel got many Shinobi killed.

"Incomplete?" Iruka echoed, confused. Mentally, he went through the file in his head, but couldn't remember what was written in it. He frowned and sat back in his chair, absently motioning for Kakashi to come closer. The man ended up perching on the edge of a student desk in the front row, staring at Iruka expectantly.

"Well... he was only in my class for the past year, before that he was with Izumi." Iruka looked down in shame. "He could barely read or write. The only things he could read well were food menus, and even then he recognized Ramen names the easiest." Kakashi snorted in amusement, even as a light KI filtered through the room. "I...didn't even notice until two months of having him in my class. Nobody took the time to teach him... I was almost one of those. But he picked it up quickly. He is a very fast learner when he wants to learn something, the trick is getting him to sit still and focus long enough, of course." Case in point, learning the Shadow Clone jutsu in just two hours on his own.

"If he could not read or write, then how was he able to enter the Academy at all? And how did he pass the written tests of the previous years?" Kakashi asked, confused and alarmed.

"The only requirement for entry into the academy is that you can recognize and write your own name." Iruka said blandly. "And... I don't know how he made it to my class, but clearly he could manage just enough to get by." Iruka shrugged. "His Chakra control is abysmal, always has been. I've long suspected that his instructors before me didn't care enough to show him proper control, so he doesn't even know that there's anything wrong with the way he uses Jutsu. In fact, I would almost hazard a guess and say that everything he _can _do with Chakra, he taught himself after watching how everybody else did it. I gave him extra Chakra control exercises and helped where I could, of course, over the year, but... between his natural reserves and the... well." He trailed off, but Kakashi knew what he was hinting at.

"He simply has too much Chakra... he's never going to be able to control it the way he could have. I think the only chance he stood on that front was if he started doing advanced Chakra exercises since the moment his coils were developed enough."

Kakashi decided not to mention that his Chakra control issues weren't something he hadn't noticed, he had asked the Academy Instructor about Naruto's time in the academy, after all. "I noticed that his Taijutsu is... well, to say 'poor' would be an understatement." He said bluntly, and Iruka flinched back.

"Unfortunately, Mizuki was often in charge of leading the morning exercises with the students, and teaching Taijutsu. At least while he was in my class. I doubt that his previous instructors were any better about it, either." Iruka said apologetically. "Socially, well... lets just say that Naruto's never had any friends. He and a group of boys hung out occasionally, but they mostly followed his lead when he made his escapes, I have no idea if they stuck around once 'free'. He misses many social cues... like when he was always asking Sakura out for dates? I don't think he really knows the difference between a 'date' and just hanging out with a friend."

Mentally, Kakashi groaned. Great, he was going to have to pull the boy aside to fix all his bad habits, both with his Jutsu and his personal life. Well, the boy knew Shadow Clones, maybe he should start abusing that little fact. He could always have a group of clones go with a clone of him to work on some advanced Chakra exercises, some theory stuff he should have learned in the Academy, and social skills. Taijutsu stuff would have to be done with the real Naruto, of course.

"And, of course, he's a trap-making genius, and a stealth and evasion expert." Iruka said casually, and watched Kakashi's head snap up to stare at him incredulously.

"What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.

"You know those pranks he's always pulling? Swap out the harmless projectiles for something a little more deadly, and you have a fully functioning trap for any enemy. When he painted the Hokage Monument? Broad daylight, wearing that kill-me-orange jumpsuit of his, and nobody noticed a thing until he opened his mouth and started yelling his accomplishment for the village to hear. The dye in the Hyuuga clans showers? He slipped past all those clansmen with their Byakugan active. And the Uchiha, back when they were alive, never could prove it was him that 'tar' and feathered Fugaku. The regular chases he leads multiple Chunin, Jonin, and the occasional ANBU on throughout the village. He broke into and stole the _Forbidden Scroll of Sealing_, from the Hokage's Vault. That alone should say something." Iruka pointed out, and Kakashi could only stare.

Mentally, he reviewed every prank he could think of that Naruto had actually been caught for... or _let _himself be caught for. Dimly, he realized that Iruka was right. Naruto was a genius with traps, he would just have to discuss the possibilities of switching the paint and glitter with Kunai and Shuriken.

"Huh." Iruka nodded smugly.

"Beyond that, I don't know what I can tell you that you probably haven't already noticed." He said after a few minutes.

"Did he even ever attend any of the health classes?" Kakashi asked after a moment.

Iruka frowned and thought back. "The health classes were all taught by the Academy nurse... I can't recall ever seeing him in the room during those lessons the few times I looked in to make sure they were behaving." He confessed. "The other teachers did have a habit of... kicking him out of their classes. They always claimed he was being disruptive, so there was nothing I could do about it short of complaining to the Head Instructor. He always took the other teachers sides, even when I asked Naruto what his side was." He looked apologetic. Of course, that usually ended in extra punishment for Naruto, so eventually he stopped complaining about it and did his best to catch Naruto up on what was covered in the class he was kicked out of.

"Hmm. So, he eats that way because he honestly doesn't know any better?" Kakashi mumbled to himself.

Iruka coughed. "His budget is also very tight, he only gets so much money from the Orphan Stipend, and it only goes so far when he has to pay rent and buy school supplies, too."

Kakashi tilted his head in confusion. "The Orphan Stipend should be more than enough for proper food. Especially since he doesn't pay rent. The Hokage handles that, because the landlord tried to charge him at least triple what the rate actually was when he was younger." He said slowly. Not to mention that his apartment building was a dump. The rent on a place like that wasn't very high to begin with, so even if he _was _paying his own rent, without being overcharged, he should still be able to comfortably afford food, supplies, and still have some left over to treat himself a little bit.

"... Does Naruto know that?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi frowned. "He should... I would imagine that the Hokage told him of the arrangement when it first started." He said, and made a mental note to ask Naruto about it. He sighed. "Thank you, Umino, for the information. I better get back to my team, I left them with a Clone while they finish up their D-rank for the day." Both Chunin and Jonin made a face at the mention of D-ranks.

"It was my pleasure, he may not be my student anymore, but..." Iruka shrugged.

When Kakashi was gone, he sat back in his chair and thought for a bit before deciding there was nothing more to be done about it, and he might as well let Kakashi handle it. That didn't mean he wasn't going to help out every now and then by providing Naruto with a sounding board should he need it, or that he wasn't going to continue being there for the boy.


	7. Do it in my Sleep

"Is it just me, or is Sensei scarily good at sabotaging things?" Sakura asked, watching as Kakashi Hatake effortlessly fiddled with the cross-beams of the bridge they were taking out. He was humming, and he clearly wasn't very focused on what he was doing, since his one visible eye was closed.

"I looked up his record. Back during the war, most of the missions his team ran were sabotage of some kind. Bridges, paths, city walls, other villages traps, if it could be sabotaged, they did it." Sasuke answered, watching his sensei in interest.

"Really?" Sakura asked.

"Hn. From what I could gather, his sensei was trying to keep his team off the front-lines, and mostly succeeded." Sasuke nodded, then fell silent.

"Eh, is that why he looks like he's sleeping?" Naruto asked, studying Kakashi with his eyes almost squinted shut.

"Probably. If they really took that many sabotage missions, he probably _can _do this in his sleep." Sakura said in amazement.

"Hey, I wonder if we can get him to tell us stories, or something." Naruto said eagerly.

"Stories about what?" They all jumped and turned around when Kakashi spoke up from behind them.

"About your Genin team." Sakura said, watching him.

"Hmm... well, I was only on a Genin team for a few months." Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "There was an... incident, and I actually had to go back to the Academy for a bit because of it. Then I was apprenticed straight out. It was a few years before Minato-sensei got a couple of Genin to round out our team, but by then I was a Chunin."

"Oh... well, that team, then." Sakura said after a moment, not having expected their private sensei to even tell them that much.

"Hmm. Well, I suppose I can think of something." Kakashi said doubtfully, eyeing their eagerly expectant faces. "Now, come on. We need to hide." He said, and led his team into the trees surrounding the bridge, where they could watch from relative safety, just to make sure the mission was a success.

"By the way, Sensei, _were _you sleeping while you worked?" Naruto asked a few moments after the bridge collapsed, exactly how Kakashi had said it would before he started messing with it.

What little of Kakashi's face they could see turned a bright red, and he didn't answer.

He didn't think anybody could really blame him, either. He spent a little over two years doing almost nothing _but _sabotage missions.


	8. Persistent

Gamabunta sucked on his pipe a bit and sighed.

On the other side of the valley was the little blonde kid, he'd 'snuck out' to practice one of his techniques, one that actually caused considerable damage to himself as well as his enemies.

However, it seemed that being in Sage Mode negated that damage considerably, or at least... the enhanced healing factor aided in reversing the damage, because he had no problem throwing a few of them around. Once the Nature Chakra in his body ran out, he simply popped one of the Shadow Clones sitting off to the side, gathering more Nature Chakra for him.

He was glad they'd figured that aspect of Shadow Clones out, otherwise the kid would have been in trouble, since the Fox kept Ma and Pa from 'fusing' with him to continue gathering Chakra while he fought.

Five minutes may seem like a lot of time in a Ninja battle, where speed was everything (speed in movement, where finishing them quickly was paramount), but when fighting against stronger opponents, where using Nature Chakra was _necessary_, every second of those five minutes counted even more. Once those five minutes were up, that was it. You will have used your trump card, and it was gone, your opponent would know it.

But with a few Shadow Clones waiting off to the side, simply pop one either just before, or just after the time was up.

Of course, that five minutes didn't factor in when he started using Chakra and throwing Jutsu around. That would greatly lessen the time.

"Persistent, isn't he?" Pa asked from beside him. Gamabunta just grunted.

"He should be in bed. Nature Chakra or not, _Fox _or not, he's not doing himself any favors by training like this instead of sleeping." He said.

"Ah, to be young again." Pa sighed, and looked at the Toad chief slyly. "I seem to recall you sneaking out all the time to train more, back when you were barely out of tadpole stage." Pa raised an eyebrow at the other toad.

"And how many times did I collapse and have to be treated for exhaustion, setting back my training time?" Gamabunta asked with a glare.

Pa shrugged. "I'll let him go for a bit longer before dragging him back to bed." He assured. "What are you doing up?" He asked after a moment.

"Thinking." He said, and Pa just stared at him. "Gamakichi was talking in his sleep again." He muttered after a moment.

"Didn't you get earplugs for that?" Pa asked in amusement.

Gamabunta scowled. "I thought I did. Can't find them." He was pretty sure Gamatatsu hid them again.

Pa chuckled, earning a glare from Gamabunta, which died down when he saw Naruto pop his last Clone and start throwing more Rasenshuriken. "He didn't make more clones." He noted. "He'll probably go back in on his own soon." Pa yawned and stood up. "I will see you in the morning, 'Bunta." He said, and left.

"Good-night." Gamabunta said, almost absently as he watched Naruto train, and flashed back to when he first met the little brat.

He snorted. "Persistent, indeed." He muttered, and sucked on his pipe again, watching the stars.


	9. Home to Stay

+AU

* * *

Five year old Shikamaru frowned as he watched the blonde boy. He looked about his age, but people were hitting out, kicking out, spitting, and glaring as he scurried past. He didn't understand what he was seeing, he'd never seen this before. All the kids he knew were happy, healthy, and well taken care of. This boy looked scared, and dirty. He was clutching food scraps from what looked like a trash can.

"Mommy?" He asked. "Why are they doing that?"

His mother looked down at him, startled, then followed where he was looking. Her lips pursed in disapproval, but she didn't move to step in and stop it, didn't try to help. Instead she watched as a kick connected, causing the boy to flinch and hurriedly gather up what he dropped before scurrying around the corner. He didn't make a sound. "Because he's dangerous, Shika. I want you to stay away from him." She finally said after a minute.

He frowned. He didn't look dangerous, he looked like he needed help. "Why?" He asked simply.

His mother looked down at him, surprised. After a moment, she looked uncomfortable. "Because he is, I can't tell you why. Now come on."

"But... he's just a kid." _Like me. _

She sighed and took his hand, pulling him along so they could finish their business and go home.

That night, he told his father about what happened, after their evening training session. When the shadows were nice and long. For a moment, his father looked angry, then he just looked exhausted. (Which was saying something for Shikaku Nara.) He simply asked his son to describe the boy.

After a moment, he answered slowly, picking his words with care. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He went missing about a year ago, but nobody knew until about a month ago. The Hokage has had people looking for him ever since." Personally, he suspected Danzo had something to do with both him getting kicked out, and them not finding out about it until so recently. "We'll go back to that street tomorrow and see if we can't find him again, alright?" He decided. It was too dark now, he was just going to have to hope that Naruto was still nearby the next day, and that nothing happened in the night.

He'd been angry when he learned of it. He'd petitioned to take the boy in when Minato died, only to be denied by those blasted advisers and the Civilian Council, using the power they'd grabbed in the power vacuum left by Minato's death. Their concerns had been that they didn't want the Village Jinchuuriki to be under the sole influence of one clan. Well, that was their argument. He was pretty sure Danzo wanted Naruto for himself, and figured it would be harder to get him if he were protected by a clan.

(There was rumor that Kakashi was responsible for the reconstruction that needed to be done on the Tower not long after he got back from a mission and would have heard the rumors. He'd been kept busy with missions ever since, even though they probably would have found the boy by now if he was able to send out his hounds. Shikaku didn't think the young Jonin had spent twenty-four hours in the Village since the news broke over a month ago. He hadn't taken it well in the beginning when he was forbidden from even seeing the boy, let alone adopting him (not by the Hokage. The Hokage had been all for Shikaku or Kakashi taking Naruto in, even if Kakashi's age made him wary). He'd been kept busy with high-ranking missions ever since so he wouldn't have time to seek the boy out despite his orders to stay away.

His only solace had been the promise that he would be able to teach the boy when he graduated the Academy, when he went missing...)

When he went missing, the Shinobi were ordered to keep an eye out for him and alert the Hokage the second he was spotted. He would have sent out tracking teams, but after almost a year, any trails potential kidnappers might have left would have been long destroyed by time, the weather, and Shinobi foot traffic. But if he was in the middle of a busy street, in the middle of the village... he highly doubted that the street was completely empty of Shinobi. On duty or off. There were probably passing ANBU nearby, and maybe a patrol officer or two from the Uchiha Police Force. He was willing to bet that there were at least five other Shinobi there... besides his wife.

His wife who hadn't said a word to him about it. Hadn't flagged down a passing patrol. Hadn't stepped in and taken care of the boy herself. In fact, none of the Shinobi there did. But she hadn't even said anything to him about it. Instead, he heard about it from his five year old, not-quite-so-innocent anymore, son. Who, for all his Nara levels of intelligence, didn't understand what he'd seen, or why adults would be treating a kid like him that way.

Tomorrow, tomorrow Naruto would be brought home where he belonged. He was going to ensure that there was nothing the idiot advisers could do about it, or that old war-hawk, either. Once Naruto was home with him, then he would inform the Hokage where he was, and Kakashi. As far as he was concerned, those were the only two who had any right to know where the boy was. They were the only ones that cared about the boy for what he was. A five-year old little boy.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a young voice. "Mommy told me to stay away from him, that he was dangerous." Shikamaru watched the emotions play across his fathers face. Finally, it settled on a calm rage.

"Did she now?" He murmured. He glanced at the time. "Bed time, kiddo. Come on." He said and got up, pulling his son into his arms and carried him to bed.

Shikamaru was blissfully unaware of the argument that took place in his parents room that night. Or of why his mother wasn't there for breakfast the next morning, or that she wouldn't be there for the next week until she got back from the easy C-rank she took to get out of the village for a while. He would wonder, in the coming months, why things were strained between his parents, but would put it out of his mind with his fathers reassurances.

* * *

The next day, true to his word, Shikaku took his son back to that street where Naruto had last been seen, and started asking around with the store owners and employees. From what he was finally able to gather after three hours of questions and half-answers, was that Naruto had moved into the back alley behind the bookstore and the bar about a year ago, and any attempts to chase him off only worked for about a week before he was back.

Shikaku repaid their _kindness _towards the boy by slapping a seal and note on the doorframes, signalling to any passing sensor on patrol that the occupants were to be picked up and taken to Ibiki for questioning. The note was for Ibiki's eyes only. If them being hauled in meant that their entire business was now under investigation, well, that was just being thorough.

How could somebody look at a four year old and not try to help? Not offer food, clothes, shelter? Maybe he's being a bit hypocritical since he's killed his fair share of children this young during his time as a Shinobi, but he didn't leave them to suffer like this. It was quick... he was doing his job. Ah, maybe becoming a father himself has made him go soft.

Oh well, it's not like he gets out of the village much anymore to take those kinds of missions, anyway. But how do you look at a kid like Naruto, who was pretty cute from what he remembered... what little he'd seen of the boy before he was given to the orphanage, and try to chase him away, instead of trying to help? He just didn't understand his village. He thought they were supposed to be better than that.

When they went into the alley, he made a point of making some noise, he didn't want to sneak up on him and scare him, but not too much. He had no doubt, living behind a bar for a year gave Naruto plenty of reason to avoid people that made a lot of noise and bumbled around. Drunks didn't exactly have much control of their bodies, after all. And yes, he was thinking from some experience.

Sure enough, half-way down the alley, a small head poked out from behind a dumpster, one wary blue eye was all that was visible. He sucked in a breath at seeing it. Children shouldn't look like that, it wasn't right. Slowly, he sat down on the ground, not caring about the dirt and who-knew-what else that he might be sitting in, although he made sure to avoid the questionable puddle nearby. Shikamaru knelt down beside him, staying quiet.

"Hello, there." He called, and the eye blinked before switching it's gaze from him to Shikamaru for a moment. "This is my son, Shikamaru." Shika waved, and a small hand appeared after a moment to wave back. "My name is Shikaku, what's yours?" He continued.

It took a long moment, but finally a small voice answered. "Naruto." The voice was rough, like it's owner didn't speak much. Mentally, Shikaku added testing the boys speech levels to the list of things to do with him.

The Hokage had originally planned to enroll the boy in the academy later this year, with his age group, but Shikaku was thinking that might not be possible for another year or two. The boy would need to be eased into normal human interaction. His mental development probably wasn't at the level it should be, either, for his age. On the other hand, he was probably more mature in other ways than the other children his age, a by-product of living on the streets, and having to provide for and defend himself, from such a young age.

"That's a nice name, Naruto. Would you like to come out here, where we can see you? We would just like to help." He carefully watched what little he could see of the boy for any signs that those words had been used before, used to hurt him, used to take advantage of him. After a moment, he realized that Shikamaru's presence was probably helping Naruto form his opinion of him.

It took a while, but finally Naruto started to come out from behind his dumpster. In that time, Shikaku spoke quietly with his son and pretended he wasn't paying too much attention, in an effort to make Naruto more comfortable. He also sensed Kakashi land on the edge of the rooftop above them, and his nose picked up the faint scent of lightning and fresh blood. Kakashi must have come home from his latest mission right in time for the villagers from the stores to be brought in, and probably heard rumors that he was the one to order it. A quick conversation with the right person would have probably made him curious enough to come check it out.

He subtly signaled for Kakashi to stay there, and was relieved when he was obeyed.

Barely.

He could feel Kakashi's Chakra coil in excitement, fear, apprehension. No doubt the younger man wanted nothing more than to wrap Naruto, his little brother, up and never let go. The past five years had been hard enough on the Jonin even knowing that his brother was safe in the village, that he knew where he was, even if he couldn't go see him. For him to disappear...

He shook himself out of his thoughts and watched Naruto closely, doing his best to be non-threatening. If he tried to bolt, it wasn't like he could go far, but he didn't want to risk that, as it would be easier all around if Naruto came with them on his own. It would be hard to gain his trust if they had to force him to come, and he didn't think Kakashi could handle it if Naruto fought them. For that matter, he wasn't sure if _he _could handle seeing those blue eyes (so like his fathers!) turned on him in distrust. It was hard enough seeing the wariness in them right now.

He was surprised when Naruto came closer than expected, and stood, rocking on his heels. Shikaku's eyes roved over his tiny body, cataloging his physical condition. He was covered in dirt, grime, and who knew what else. His hair was long and matted, caked with mud, blood, and questionable substances from his living area. He was dangerously thin, and had extensive bruising _just _visible beneath all the dirt covering him. They were all on his face, around his throat, and over what was visible of his chest through rips in his shirt. He looked a couple years younger than he actually was, due to lack of proper food for the past year. His eyes narrowed slightly and the shadows writhed with his anger when he noticed the fresh cut above his lip, something did happen last night, after all.

(He briefly wondered why the Fox hadn't healed him yet, he knew that Kushina didn't stay injured for long before being healed. For that matter, his incredible healing factor as an Uzumaki should have taken care of it already, as well. It wasn't a big cut, after all. Although the bruising looked extensive.)

Once Naruto was settled and more comfortable within the Nara compound, he was going to have to get one of the clans med-nin to look at him. Probably see if Inoichi could come over to speak with him at some point. He was thinking about retiring from T&I and specializing in child psychology, anyway. A seal-master should probably be called to make sure nothing happened to the seal in the past year, as well.

He quickly wiped his face clean of any signs of anger, not wanting Naruto to pick up on it and think he was angry with him.

A few moments later, he sensed the Hokage settle on the rooftop next to Kakashi, their Chakra curled in anticipation and excitement.

"Hey, there, buddy. Thanks for coming out." He said quietly, ignoring the new audience. "Can you tell me what you're doing out here?" He asked, and Shikamaru glanced at him, confused.

"Live there." Naruto pointed at the dumpster after a moment.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked, the same thing he'd asked his mother the day before. He was confused. Why was he living here? He didn't see a bed, or roof. He didn't see anyone else around, either. So why would he stay here?

Naruto blinked at him. "Nowhere else to go." He muttered quietly. Miss told him to get lost, so he got lost. But he didn't know what to do after that, his attempts to go back had been met with hits and more yells for him to go away, so he'd wandered for a bit until he found this alley. The people nearby tried to chase him away from here, too. He went somewhere else, but the same thing kept happening, so he eventually settled back here and stayed, no matter what the others did. It wasn't like he could go anywhere else, so why bother leaving here?

Shikamaru turned big, confused eyes on his father, begging him to fix this somehow. He smiled at both boys. "Why don't you come home with us? We can get you something to eat, get you cleaned up? You can stay as long as you like." Hopefully, that would be forever, or as close to forever as one could get in the life of a Shinobi.

He held out his hand slowly, invitingly. He hoped Naruto would take it, and take it soon. He was starting to get uncomfortable, sitting here. It's not like he hasn't sat or slept in worse places over the years, but still.

Naruto glanced between him and Shikamaru a few times, trying to decide. The anticipation from the roof-top rose to new levels, momentarily distracting Shikaku. Finally, the boy came closer and took Shikaku's hand, prompting a gentle smile from the Nara clan head and pure relief to flow through three Chakra signatures. Kakashi and the Hokage disappeared from the rooftop, and Shikaku had no doubt the two of them would meet Shikaku at the compound.

Not letting go of Naruto's hand, he got up, took his sons hand in his other hand, and started walking back to the compound, Shikamaru trying to talk to Naruto the whole way. He could already tell that Naruto had a pretty decent vocabulary (he wondered what Naruto's vocabulary of swear words would look like), but didn't really know how to use them in proper sentences, he had little to no concept of grammar. Not _too _surprising for his age, but something to start fixing over time.

No matter, Naruto was back where he belonged, now. He was back with people who cared about him.

* * *

Walking into his house, he wasn't surprised to see the Hokage and Kakashi already inside. What did surprise him, was that Kakashi was in the kitchen, cooking. For a second, he wondered if he was going to come back from cleaning Naruto up and finding him decent clothes to see his kitchen on fire. Then he remembered that Kushina had made sure Kakashi could cook. He was actually a pretty good cook. Especially if he was making Kushina's special Ramen recipe, which from the smell of it... He grinned in appreciation for a second.

"No, come on in and make yourselves at home." He drawled, amused. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow and went back to what he was doing. Thankfully, he hadn't brought his pipe out, knowing how much Yoshino hated it when her husband smoked in the house. Naruto hid himself behind Shikaku's pant leg, not knowing who these two men were. He looked down and smiled, touched and pleased by the trust Naruto had just shown. "Naruto, this is Kakashi, and that's Hiruzen. They're Shinobi with the Village, and very important ones, too." He said quietly, introducing the two of them. They waved at the little boy, who hesitantly waved back. "Come on, lets get you cleaned up, then we can enjoy what Kakashi's making. It smells good, doesn't it?" He asked, and Naruto nodded quickly.

"Come on. Shikamaru, if you want to stay here and help Kakashi?" He told his son, who nodded his agreement and went to pull out the stool he used whenever his mother made him help.

Twenty minutes later, a much cleaner Naruto was sitting at the table with three of the villages deadliest Shinobi, and Shikamaru. Shikaku could tell that Kakashi was upset at the sight of the bruising and the split lip, not that he let it show on his face. It was only clear through his Chakra.

Hiruzen looked somewhat amused. It was clear that Shikaku had either gotten frustrated, or just decided not to bother, because Naruto's hair was shorter than it was when they went upstairs. Then again, if he'd had to be the one washing that filthy head, he probably would have cut it, too.

"Hello, Naruto. Are you feeling better now that you're clean?" He asked, happy to have the boy here, and to see that he was alright.

Naruto's eyes blinked up at him, and studied him for a moment. "Yes, sir." He leaned back as Kakashi finished serving everyone Kushina's special Ramen. For a moment, he watched, and then Shikaku seemed to notice and reached over to help him. The chopsticks were awkward in his hands, having never used them before, so Shikaku got up to get one of the forks they still had from when Shikamaru was still learning to use chopsticks. It had actually taken him quite a while to get the hang of it.

By unspoken consent, the adults talked about everything and nothing during the meal. They would save the serious discussions for when Naruto and Shikamaru were out of the room.

"Shika, why don't you go get started on your chores. Take Naruto with you." Shikaku finally said once the bowls were all empty.

Shikamaru grumbled and complained like a true Nara, but he went, grabbing Naruto's hand on his way out. "Come on, we'll probably have more fun out there than in here while the adults talk." He said, and Naruto went along with only a glance behind him.

Once they were gone, the adults sat back and sighed. "He's finally home." Shikaku murmured. "Now, to deal with the advisers." He leaned forward in his seat, eyes narrowed while the other two scowled at the mention of those two interfering busybodies.

* * *

Five years later

"Come on, Shika! We're going to be late!" Naruto called to his brother from the entryway.

Shikamaru finally ambled in and sank down to pull his sandals on with a yawn. "Troublesome. Where do you even get all of your energy?" He complained, finally standing.

Naruto rolled his eyes before grabbing his hand and dragging him along behind him. Today was the day of the first survival exercise they would have in the Academy, and Iruka-sensei had said that they weren't going to wait around, so if you were late, then too bad!

He didn't want to miss this! There wouldn't be another one until next year!

He almost burst out into a dance when he and Shika burst into the room right when Iruka called his name for attendance. They weren't late! They could still go! His victory celebration was halted by Shika's impatience.

"So troublesome." He grumbled while dragging his brother towards the seat saved for them by Choji.

Naruto could only grin at Iruka when the teacher gave him a flat look.

Iruka hadn't really... appreciated his presence at first. Oh, he didn't outright hate Naruto like many did, and he refused to let his personal opinion get in the way of doing his job, so he treated Naruto like just another student (unlike the two teachers before him), but it was clear that Iruka didn't want to have to be near Naruto more than necessary.

That eventually changed, of course, and Iruka even accompanied Kakashi and Naruto on a trip outside the village once when Naruto was eight.

Nobody said anything, but Naruto knew the village Elders and Council had raised a fuss over Naruto being adopted by the Nara clan, and an even bigger fuss when Kakashi took Naruto to that festival in the Land of Fire's capital. (He didn't know what all the fuss was about, either. What was it their business where he lived or where he went? Yeah, he knew there was something big that none of the adults were telling him, but he'd been promised an explanation when he graduated, so he supposed he was just going to have to be patient...)

Naruto had never been to a festival before, he'd seen the one on his birthday, of course, but always from a distance. His experiences early on with the general public meant that he tried to avoid crowds at all cost, especially crowds in Konoha! So, when Kakashi approached Shikaku about wanting to take Naruto with him, it hadn't taken much for the Clan Head to agree, provided that somebody else go along to help Kakashi keep an eye on the mischievous bundle of energy that was his youngest son. They wouldn't want Naruto sneaking into somewhere he shouldn't be and causing problems between the Daimyo and the Village, after all.

(Even still, Naruto maintained that he knew nothing about the 'rabbit invasion' on the Fire Palace. Honestly, he had no idea how all those rabbits got in, or even where so many rabbits _came _from! Yeah... and Shikaku was the Hokage.)

"Alright, class. Now that we're all here..." He shot a small glare towards Naruto, who beamed brightly. "Here are maps of the area we are going to be in for the next week, I suggest you try to memorize it, anything can happen to that map, and if that happens I will not be giving you a new one." He instructed as he passed out the maps, and then instructed everyone to put their bags on their desks so he could check them for the right equipment.

Any bags that were lacking in essential equipment were deemed not good enough, and Iruka helpfully informed the class that he had extra supplies on hand to supplement what they'd failed to pack, but that next time they had a survival trip like this, they wouldn't be so lucky and would have to rely on the generosity of their classmates.

Unsurprisingly, it was Sasuke Uchiha's fangirls that didn't have everything they needed, and the nonessential items they packed (like conditioner, perfume, makeup, and nice clothes that would only get ruined out there) were taken out and put in a plastic bag that Iruka labeled with the right name and locked in his desk. Most of the guys had everything, and even a few extras of some things. (Iruka sighed, but didn't say anything when he noticed that Choji mostly packed nothing but food or cooking equipment, with barely any room left over for a change of clothes, blanket, and sleeping roll).

Next year, after the kids started working with real blades and not wooden practice ones, Iruka would make sure that some extra weapons were packed in their bags, but not this year.

"Alright, very good. For the most part, we are all very well prepared." He praised the class, making sure to look at those who didn't pack everything he'd told them to pack, and instead packed useless or unessential items. "Let's go, we need to be at the campsite in an hour." He called, and held the door open for the students to file out. Instead of leading them out the front of the building, he led them out the back, towards the training grounds assigned to the Academy.

The camp area they were going to was beyond the training grounds littering the Village outskirts, and even a little bit into the nearby mountains the Village was nestled in between. It was pretty far into the Forests that the Village called home and gave it it's name, but it was close enough for children to reach easily enough, especially children who worked out and exercised regularly during Shinobi training.

He didn't tell them this, but a couple of Jonin volunteers would be watching over them during the trip, just to be safe. One never knew what could happen, and there was always the chance that enemy Shinobi happened to be waiting nearby for some reason. And yes, Kakashi happened to be one of those volunteers.

On the second day, Shikaku appeared beside Kakashi, and watched the kids for a few moments.

Choji, Naruto, and Shikamaru were standing by the fire, seeing to it that their lunch didn't burn, the rest of the students were with Iruka setting, taking apart, and resetting various traps for hunting small game.

He snorted, not at all surprised that those three weren't taking part in the lesson. Naruto and Shika he had taught that very thing, ensuring they could set those traps in their sleep, and Choji was an Akimichi. He probably learned how to set traps and hunt before he could walk. They took food very seriously, after all, and that included knowing how to get food when yours ran out.

Also... Naruto's prank traps were a hundred times more complicated at their simplest form.

"How have they been?" He asked quietly, the house was quiet without the two boys around, especially since his wife had taken the opportunity of the boys being gone to go on an A-rank mission. Even Shikamaru, as lazy as he was, made noise during the day, and with Naruto, well... enough said, really. The kid was one bright ball of energy, he certainly brought new life and energy to the Nara Clan compound.

When he first took Naruto in, most of the clan objected, but he merely told them to look at the kid, _really look _at him, and then come back to him with any objections.

Being the highly intelligent people they all were (being Nara), it didn't take much for them to spot what he wanted them to see, and most of them stopped complaining. Those who still objected, didn't take long before they were drawn in by the small blonde child. His wife, predictably, took the longest to calm down and accept him as a member of her family. Their marriage was still recovering from the tension between them during those months, but they were recovering.

"They've been good. So far, Naruto and Shikamaru have already known everything Iruka-sensei has to teach about survival, so they've mostly been helping with the others. They're having fun, though." Shika could hear the grin in Kakashi's voice.

"Naruto was bouncing off the walls about this trip since it was announced." Shika sighed. "I'm glad he's enjoying himself." He murmured.

"He's come a long way, hasn't he?" Kakashi asked, watching his little brother fondly, thinking of the scared street-rat he used to be, not five years ago.

When Shikamaru (and the rest of their age group) entered the Academy at age six, Shikaku and the Hokage had several long discussions about what to do with Naruto. The Hokage wanted him to be with other children his own age, but Shikaku was adamant that the boy wasn't ready yet. He was still struggling to learn how to read, he was still learning basic social skills, and he still cowered at loud noises or when strangers moved suddenly. It took over a month after being brought to the Nara Compound for him to understand that he could sleep in the bed! And eat the food! And he wasn't going to be hit if he spoke to the other children in the compound! (Needless to say, they were almost sorry the orphanage matron had already been quietly executed after a long stay in T&I.)

Frankly, the Nara med-nin Shikaku had asked to look at him backed up Shikaku's claims of the boy not being ready to attend the Academy, as did Inoichi. Physically, even a year later, he was still recovering from the near starvation, everyone was of the opinion that the Kyubi was the only reason the boy survived as long as he did, otherwise the lack of food and regular beatings from the adults would have done him in long before Shikaku found him. Mentally... as far as interaction with people was concerned, Inoichi was concerned by how his previous treatment affected his development, not to mention the nightmares he routinely woke the Clan Heads household up with, especially after the first week, when it started to sink in that he was somewhere safe.

As a result, Naruto didn't enter the Academy until a year late, but Shikaku had managed to use that extra year to get him qualified to join his age-mates, instead of being placed in the class below them.

"Yes, he had." Shikaku muttered, proud of the progress his son had made over the years. He was glad Shikamaru didn't listen to his mother about forgetting about that scruffy kid he saw on the streets, he was glad he went to find Naruto himself instead of going through 'proper channels', as the Village Council called it.

Naruto was home, and that was where he would stay.


End file.
